A 100,000-Year-Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa
Please visit https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/15 to view this article.
Abstract
The conceptual ability to source, combine, and store substances that enhance technology or social practices represents a benchmark in the evolution of complex human cognition. Excavations in 2008 at Blombos Cave, South Africa, revealed a processing workshop where a liquefied ochre-rich mixture was produced and stored in two Haliotis midae (abalone) shells 100,000 years ago. Ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones, and hammerstones form a composite part of this production toolkit. The application of the mixture is unknown, but possibilities include decoration and skin protection.
This paper has been withdrawn.
