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1 Early humans used art materials 100,000 year ago
Art is one of the defining characteristics of humanity.
This explains why archaeologists were so excited to find, in a South African cave, evidence of art or decoration that dates to about 100,000 years ago. Among the findings, in their original place of deposition, were: ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones and hammerstones.
Ochre is or dirt rock containing red or yellow oxides or hydroxides of iron and is still used for decoration by some African tribes.
Abalone shell in lab after removal of the quartzite grinder cobble and some of the ochre rich deposit. (Science/AAAS)
The South African scientists, who report their work today in the journal Science (see abstract), believe the ochre was applied with symbolic intent or as decoration. It is furthermore significant because it shows early humans could not only use these materials, but in fact combine and store substances that were then possibly used to augment their social or ritual activities.
According to the authors this conceptual ability to combine and store such substances represents a critical point in the evolution of human thinking.
There is simply no way of knowing what the materials were used for, but it sure is fun to think about how these early artists might have decorated themselves or their surroundings.
The nacre and inside of the abalone shell after removal of the quartzite grindstone. The red deposit is the ochre rich mixture that was in the shell and preserved. (Grethe Moell Pedersen)
The oldest, confirmed prehistoric art dates to about 40,000 years ago with the remarkable Venus of Hohle Fels, sculpted from a woolly mammoth tusk.
Clearly the South African workshop does not reflect that kind of sophistication. But their time, the the middle Stone Age, comes when humans were developing the kinds of tools, such as harpoons, that would allow them to migrate out of Africa in small groups.
Posted by Eric Berger on October 13, 2011 at 2:12 pm. Eric Berger is the Houston Chronicle's space, weather and science reporter. He covers everything from nanometers to parsecs. You can follow him on twitter at @chronsciguy.^↩