Arrow consisting of a wooden shaft on to which one green glass 'microlith' (formerly two; one now lost) is set in mastic. [JC 1 8 2003]

Collection type: Object
Description: Arrow consisting of a wooden shaft on to which one green glass 'microlith' (formerly two; one now lost) is set in mastic. [JC 1 8 2003]
Geographical reference: South Africa
Africa > Southern Africa > South Africa; Cape Province
Cultural groups: Khoe-San; San
Person: Field collector Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek; PRM source Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Date / Period: Date made: 1870-1875, uncertain Date made: 1870-1880
Date collected: Early 1870s
Acquisition information: Transferred: 1886 Found unentered: 06/1987
Materials and processes: Material Glass, Material Resin Plant, Material Wood Plant, Process Recycled, Process Flaked
Dimensions: Width: max 17 mm, Length: max 232 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1887.1.702
Research and responses: Until 1999, there was only one computerized entry for the six arrows (1887.1.700-.705). This read as follows: 'By comparison with other specimens, Clark assumed that these pieces were made in Cape Town by a San Bushman for Dr. W. H. I. Bleek in the 1860s and donated by him to the University Museum (Clark: 135). They all originally consisted of microliths set in mastic and mounted on wooden foreshafts. Some of the microliths are now missing. .700-702 are marked "BUSHMAN, SOUTH AFRICA. July 1875. University Museum" and a label with these states "University Museum 1875. Trasnferred 1886." These 3 were found unentered and accessioned in June 1987. .703-705 were found unentered in Donald Tayler's office in October 1989, and accessioned in November 1989. .703-705 are marked "BOJESMAN, SOUTH AFRICA. A.D.", but also have remains of stick-on paper labels with "Bushman Arrow" written in the same hand as on 700-702. .700: 2 chert microliths set in mastic. .701: previously resembled .700, but both chert microliths were lost during X-raying at the Ashmolean Museum for Desmond Clark's paper. .702: previously had 2 green glass microliths, one of which was lost. .703: 2 chert microliths set in mastic. .704: Microliths missing. .705: 1 microlith present, 1 missing.' [JC 1 8 2003]
According to Deacon and Deacon (see above, page 157), it was in 1870 that 'Dr Bleek asked one or more of the men he interviewed in the Breakwater Prison in 1870 to make some arrows for him'. Deacon and Deacon (pages 157ff ) go on to give a detailed description of the method of manufacture, poison used, etc. [JC 29 7 2003]
This object was looked at by Margaret Veall (D.Phil Candidate, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford) and Justin Pargeter (Stony Brook University). The visit took place July 17th 2015. [NC 23/07/2015]
Associated publications: Illustrated (with 1887.1.700) in close-up detail in the right-hand image of Fig. 8.24 on page 159 of Human Beginnings in South Africa: Uncovering the Secrets of the Stone Age, by H. J. Deacon and Janette Deacon (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 1999). The left-hand image illustrates 'arrows made by /Xam men for Dr Bleek in Cape Town in the early 1870s' in the collections of the South African Museum. The caption for the PRM arrows (same page) reads: 'Close-up of the tips of two of the arrows (Pitt-Rivers [sic] Museum collection). Note the mastic (gum) holding the stone inserts on the left [1887.1.700]. One of the inserts has fallen out of the mastic in the example on the right [1887.1.702]. The remaining insert has been blunted like the stone segments typical of the Wilton industry.' [JC 29 7 2003]

Search terms: Tool, Archery Weapon, Arrow