Comparer les versions : Congrès de Nairobi 59 (#59)
1er Congrès panafricain de préhistoire, Nairobi, 1947
Statut : Approuvé
Révision :
Ligne 6 : | Ligne 6 : | ||
"I sincerely trust," he continued, "that we who live and work in the essential - if not indeed in the original - home of tool-making man will not hesitate to state our case and claim such recognition for Africa as this home of man demands in any discussion which impinges not only on origins but also on terminological usage. Our indebtedness to European pre-historians (especially to those of France) is great, but I venture to suggest that the small spark which first fell in Africa from the great Franch flame will in time burst forth to outshine the torch from which it came. If my view - that we at this Congress have merely returned to the home of our ancestors in an attempt to solve some of the problems to which they have given rise - is correct, the importance of the field in which we find ourselves cannot be overstressed." | "I sincerely trust," he continued, "that we who live and work in the essential - if not indeed in the original - home of tool-making man will not hesitate to state our case and claim such recognition for Africa as this home of man demands in any discussion which impinges not only on origins but also on terminological usage. Our indebtedness to European pre-historians (especially to those of France) is great, but I venture to suggest that the small spark which first fell in Africa from the great Franch flame will in time burst forth to outshine the torch from which it came. If my view - that we at this Congress have merely returned to the home of our ancestors in an attempt to solve some of the problems to which they have given rise - is correct, the importance of the field in which we find ourselves cannot be overstressed." | ||
In the review of the development of the Great Hand-axe Culture , the speaker emphasied the remarkably different interpretations in Europe and South Africa of the development of early man's skills. "While I recognise the close relationship which clearly exists between the various divisions of the main culture complex ([?] these were expressed after their roots had been transported over thousands of miles) and while I am as anxious as anyone can be to avoid further multiplication of terminologies which are already confusing, I submit that the time has now arrived for the African case to be stressed and given the pre-eminence it demands," he stated. | In the review of the development of the Great Hand-axe Culture , the speaker emphasied the remarkably different interpretations in Europe and South Africa of the development of early man's skills. "While I recognise the close relationship which clearly exists between the various divisions of the main culture complex ([?] these were expressed after their roots had been transported over thousands of miles) and while I am as anxious as anyone can be to avoid further multiplication of terminologies which are already confusing, I submit that the time has now arrived for the African case to be stressed and given the pre-eminence it demands," he stated. | ||
+ | Suggestions that the passage of time has seen various alterations in the course of the River Nile, were made by Mr. H. A. Arkell, Commissioner for Archaeology and Anthropology to the Sudan Government, in a paper describing recent observations on the distribution of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts in the valleys of the Nile (between Khartoum and Egypt) and of the Atbara and Blue Nile. | ||
+ | Mr. Arkell indicated that a site near Khartoum had producted some Chellean and much Acheulean in situ a few metres above present high flood level. Further down the Nile, at the Fourth Cataract, pre-Chellean pebble tools occurred, in situ 160 feet above high flood level and crude Levallois at 100 feet, while at the other end of the Dongola reach, deveolped Acheulean occurred a few feet above the present high flood level. Then came a blank of 70 miles, and it was suggested that the Nile now ran east of its Palaeolithic course, which it only rejoined for 25 miles between Wawa and Abri, where Whelleans occurred in situ at approximately present erosion levels. At Abri, it was suggested that in the time of the Acheulean-Levallois culture, the Nile again abandoned its earlier course and swung east into the rocky region above the Second Cataract, only rejoining its old bed when free from that catarct. | ||
+ | No certain Lower Palaeolithic had been found in the Blue Nile valley, but a crude culture, perhaps resembling the Kenya Fauresmith, must be associated with the fossil Proto-Bushmen Skull from Singa. |