An article in the January/February 2012 issue of Archaeology magazine describes what are believed to be the world’s oldest known paint supplies, which appear to have been manufactured about 100,000 years ago in a production shop that may also be candidate for the "world’s oldest" factory.
Blombos Cave in South Africa has yielded a number of "world’s oldest" artifacts over the last many years, and the discovery of two abalone shells containing mineral residue and ochre should not surprise anyone familiar with excavations at the cave. The excavators also found what may have been primitive mortars and pestles used to grind the red and yellow ochre pigments, along with other tools that the owner may have used repeatedly over a period of time.
Red ochre, in particular, was used during that time as a part of early funeral practices when it was scattered over the corpse prior to burial. But the evidence found at Blombos Cave indicates that the ochre was used either for creating paintings, or possibly for body decoration, or both.
In Europe, no evidence for the manufacture and use of such "paints" exists much before 35,000 to 37,000 years BC, when the famous cave paintings in caves such as Lascaux and Chauvet were created. Were the people living in what is now southwestern South Africa that far ahead of those living elsewhere in the world 100,000 years ago?
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Oldest Domesticated Dogs
It has long been believed that dogs were first domesticated about 14,000 to 17,000 years ago. But a recent report by Mietje Germonpre of Belgium's Museum of Natural History and her research team has produced evidence for dates closer to 31,500 to 37,000 years ago.
Three canid skulls documented in the report were found at Predmosti in the Czech Republic and were dated at around 31,500 years ago. A separate research team working at Razboinichya Cave in Siberia found a skull believed to be 33,000 years old. An even older skull, reported in 2009 by Germonpre, was discovered at Goyer in Belgium and dated at 36,000 years.
Researchers generally consider shorter snouts and wider brain cases, among other characteristics, when trying to separate dogs from wolves. These distinctive characteristics, appearing on skulls from three separate regions of Europe and Eurasia, seem to indicate that the domestication and breeding of dogs was not the product of a single anomalous event. Also, one of the dogs found in the Czech site had been buried with a mastodon bone in its mouth. Did its owner place it there as a parting gift?
This is most likely not the end of this story. Now that these new discoveries have been reported, other researchers may take a closer look at some of their own finds.
Three canid skulls documented in the report were found at Predmosti in the Czech Republic and were dated at around 31,500 years ago. A separate research team working at Razboinichya Cave in Siberia found a skull believed to be 33,000 years old. An even older skull, reported in 2009 by Germonpre, was discovered at Goyer in Belgium and dated at 36,000 years.
Researchers generally consider shorter snouts and wider brain cases, among other characteristics, when trying to separate dogs from wolves. These distinctive characteristics, appearing on skulls from three separate regions of Europe and Eurasia, seem to indicate that the domestication and breeding of dogs was not the product of a single anomalous event. Also, one of the dogs found in the Czech site had been buried with a mastodon bone in its mouth. Did its owner place it there as a parting gift?
This is most likely not the end of this story. Now that these new discoveries have been reported, other researchers may take a closer look at some of their own finds.
Friday, January 6, 2012
The Oldest Beads Found So Far
How many ancient objects are lying forgotten or undiscovered in dusty corners of modern museums? The following story is a case in point.
It seems that around 100,000 years ago, people living in what are now Israel and Algeria were already wearing jewelry made of tiny pierced shells. Researchers rediscovered these ancient beads by combing through old museum collections at the Natural History Museum in London and in Paris at the Musee de l'Homme, where they had lain virtually untouched since the 1930s and 1940s. So far the researchers have rediscovered three shell beads from two different sites.
The shells belong to a Mediterranean species called Nessarius gibbosulus. The beads were found so far inland that researchers believe they must have been intentionally brought there from the Mediterranean coast. Did people bring these beads with them during migrations inland, or do they represent evidence of early trade between coastal peoples and those living farther inland?
There is an interesting sidelight to this story. The same researchers who discovered the Mediterranean shells also found a collection of shells discovered at the famous Blombos Cave in South Africa. These beads, dated to about 75,000 years ago, are also made of Nessarius gibbosulus shells.
More information about these beads can be found here
It seems that around 100,000 years ago, people living in what are now Israel and Algeria were already wearing jewelry made of tiny pierced shells. Researchers rediscovered these ancient beads by combing through old museum collections at the Natural History Museum in London and in Paris at the Musee de l'Homme, where they had lain virtually untouched since the 1930s and 1940s. So far the researchers have rediscovered three shell beads from two different sites.
The shells belong to a Mediterranean species called Nessarius gibbosulus. The beads were found so far inland that researchers believe they must have been intentionally brought there from the Mediterranean coast. Did people bring these beads with them during migrations inland, or do they represent evidence of early trade between coastal peoples and those living farther inland?
There is an interesting sidelight to this story. The same researchers who discovered the Mediterranean shells also found a collection of shells discovered at the famous Blombos Cave in South Africa. These beads, dated to about 75,000 years ago, are also made of Nessarius gibbosulus shells.
More information about these beads can be found here
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