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Excavations at Matupi cave

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Francis Van Noten
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Extract

The Matupi cave is one of the 40 caves within the Mount Hoyo limestone massif, a touristic site in Ituri, Zaïre. The author recognized its archaeological possibilities in February 1973 during a prospection tour in the northern part of the country. This expedition had been organized by the Institut des Musées nationaux du ZaYre in collaboration with the Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale at Tervuren, Belgium. Upon the visit to the cave a I sq m trial trench was excavated. More extended excavations (10 sq m) took place during January-March 1974. The excavations were carried out in spits of 5 cm on a I m grid system. Matupi is a large cave with an ideal living room at its entrance (c. 7 m high, c. 8 m deep and c. 5 m wide).

Information

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Articles
Information
Antiquity , Volume 51 , Issue 201 , March 1977 , pp. 35 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 1977 

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Footnotes

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Six years ago we published a brief note by Francis Van Noten on the excavations at Munyama cave discovered by himself and Professor Nenquin. We here print Professor Von Noten's preliminary report on the Matupi cave, Zaïre. He thinks the matter is of world-wide interest as the microlithic industry and the bored stone fragment are, as far as is known, the oldest ever dated. Professor Van Noten is head of the section Prehistory-Archaeology in the Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale at Tervuren, Belgium, and lecturer in Palaeoethnography, Catholic University, Leiden.

References

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