GI3

This site was a very low density artefact scatter located on both sides of a small stream bed (Figure 24). The scatter is clearly of mixed origin and a total of just 31 artefacts could be found (Figures 25 & 26). The stone materials recorded include quartz, banded iron formation, quartzite, sandstone and a material that might be either silcrete or some other type of rock in a degraded state (the yellow artefact in Figure 25).

One artefact appeared to have been retouched and used such that a well damaged edge was present (Figure 27). Another artefact was a large nodule of rock that had had many flakes removed from various parts of it where the stone was of sufficient quality (Figures 28 & 29). The stone type was uncertain, since the material looks like silcrete but this material is not expected here. It could be a very light coloured piece of banded iron formation. While one flake at this site was almost certainly from the ESA, other artefacts seem most likely to date to the MSA.

Figure 24: The vicinity of the artefact scatter at GI3 as viewed towards the east. The stream bed runs from left to right and is marked by the line of denser bushes in the middle ground.

Figure 25: Stone artefacts from the northeast     Figure 26: Stone artefacts from the southwest side of the
side of the stream bed. Scale in cm.                  stream bed. Scale in cm.

Figure 27: A retouched and edge-damaged artefact from the northeast side of the stream bed. Scale in 5 mm intervals.

Figure 28 & 29: Two views of a core from the southwest side of GI3. It shows flaking of the better quality parts of the rock. The material is either banded iron formation or silcrete.