tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/ochre-19420/articlesochre – The Conversation2022-10-20T14:08:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1863302022-10-20T14:08:34Z2022-10-20T14:08:34ZKenya’s Samburu warriors still practise a rock art tradition that tells their stories<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472309/original/file-20220704-22-twug26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An example of the rock art created by young Samburu men.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Ebbe Westergren</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-samburu-community-of-kenya-national-museums-of-kenya/JwWh0Lc7NlRtIQ?hl=en">Samburu</a> people in northern Kenya’s Marsabit county are pastoralists. They migrate from place to place in search of pasture and water for their cattle, goats, sheep and camels. As part of their lifestyle, Samburu boys go through an initiation period when they live in rock shelters, learning how to take care of their animals and how to become warriors. </p>
<p>During this time the young warriors – called lmurran – express themselves by painting images on the rocks. This is one of very few ongoing rock art traditions in the world, but it has gained almost no attention among rock art researchers. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487655/original/file-20221002-21-1psstw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487655/original/file-20221002-21-1psstw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487655/original/file-20221002-21-1psstw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487655/original/file-20221002-21-1psstw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487655/original/file-20221002-21-1psstw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487655/original/file-20221002-21-1psstw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487655/original/file-20221002-21-1psstw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Marsabit county in northern Kenya is a semi-desert which frequently experiences drought. Photo: Ebbe Westergren.</span>
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<p>Rock art has been made for more than 60,000 years and it exists on every continent except the Antarctic. Papua New Guinea and parts of Australia are among the few other places where new rock art is still being created, maintained or repainted like at the Samburu sites.</p>
<p>Ancient rock art images offer glimpses of human thoughts and beliefs from times when no written records existed. But it is difficult to interpret these images since first hand information is lacking. The ongoing Samburu rock art tradition, therefore, presents a unique chance to know where, when and why rock art was created. </p>
<p>Linnaeus University in Sweden and the University of Western Australia initiated a community-led project together with the Samburu to learn about this tradition. The first outcomes of the project were recently published in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/i-have-done-hundreds-of-rock-paintings-on-the-ongoing-rock-art-tradition-among-samburu-northern-kenya/C68375C5B9570BD7C42A6DE2165561DC#fndtn-metrics">our research paper</a>. </p>
<p>Rock art researchers tend to think about images as representing rituals and myths. In contrast, our project has revealed that the current Samburu rock art tradition commemorates real-life events and is made as a leisure activity.</p>
<h2>Samburu warriors and rock art</h2>
<p>At the age of 15, Samburu boys leave their villages and go through initiation rituals which mark the passing from childhood to warriorhood. During the two month initiation period they learn about their protective duties. As young warriors, lmurran move from camp to camp and live in rock shelters or caves where they eat, relax, dance and sometimes arrange feasts. It is during these stays at the rock shelters that they create rock art. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487653/original/file-20221002-20-tolpdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487653/original/file-20221002-20-tolpdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487653/original/file-20221002-20-tolpdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487653/original/file-20221002-20-tolpdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487653/original/file-20221002-20-tolpdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487653/original/file-20221002-20-tolpdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487653/original/file-20221002-20-tolpdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487653/original/file-20221002-20-tolpdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Lmurran warriors. Photo: Ebbe Westergren.</span>
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</figure>
<p>The images they paint commemorate real-life events related to the warrior life-world and they express the wishes and expectations of the young men. It may be an animal they have seen or hunted, or a girl back home in the village. Dancing is an important part of Samburu culture and some paintings depict boys and girls dancing together.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487651/original/file-20221002-17-awfnir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487651/original/file-20221002-17-awfnir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487651/original/file-20221002-17-awfnir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487651/original/file-20221002-17-awfnir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487651/original/file-20221002-17-awfnir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487651/original/file-20221002-17-awfnir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487651/original/file-20221002-17-awfnir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Lererin Lempate and Sania Lempate at a rock art site close to Ngurunit community. Photo: Ebbe Westergren.</span>
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<p>The images are made using red, white, yellow and black paint. Before the arrival of Europeans in the 1940s the artists preferred a pigment of red ochre, which was also used for smearing their hair and bodies. The white colour was animal fat, which turns light when it dries. To make black paint they used charcoal. As a binder, all pigments were mixed with fat from slaughtered animals. Today, commercial paint is also used along with more traditional pigments. </p>
<p>When speaking to Samburu today, they often downplay the importance of rock art. The paintings are not talked about but are done for leisure. By interviewing current and former lmurran we found out that they were well aware of rock art sites made by previous generations. The oldest rock art the elders remembered was more than 150 years old. </p>
<p>When visiting the rock art sites we saw an intriguing relationship between rock art made by different generations of warriors. Present warriors are inspired by older art, but add their own memories and style, and sometimes also the names of the artists. The images become an inter-generational visual culture that reflects and recreates a warrior identity and lifestyle.</p>
<h2>Samburu visual culture and rock art research</h2>
<p>Another thing we learned from Samburu rock art is that the artists always have specific people, animals and objects in mind when making their drawings. This is not clearly expressed in the drawings as they lack identifying details. Studying the images doesn’t reveal the artist’s intention: you need to talk to the artist to understand what they wanted their art to express. Many of the artworks reflect first hand experiences of the warriors.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487658/original/file-20221003-12-8fc0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487658/original/file-20221003-12-8fc0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487658/original/file-20221003-12-8fc0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487658/original/file-20221003-12-8fc0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487658/original/file-20221003-12-8fc0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487658/original/file-20221003-12-8fc0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487658/original/file-20221003-12-8fc0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Lmapili Lengewa and Leramis Lengewa with paintings of Lmapili’s brothers made in 2005. Photo: Ebbe Westergren.</span>
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</figure>
<p>One example comes from Mount Ng'iro at South Horr. Here at least five generations of lmurran have created rock art. The most recent was created by two older brothers of a participant in our research, Lmapili Lengewa (26). The brothers, Lpalani and Lejinai, were around 20 and 16 respectively when they made the paintings. Lmapili was present when the paintings were created, although he was too young at the time to be an lmurran. The brothers learned from studying older paintings, but their paintings were made to commemorate what they had experienced as newly inducted lmurran. A bull figure, for example, depicts a bull they slaughtered and ate. At the time there were about five or six people in the shelter; most of them focused on preparing the food, while the two brothers created rock art.</p>
<p>While there are indeed many rituals in Samburu culture, rock art is not part of such practices. Certainly there are norms guiding the creation of the rock art, but the artist is free to express himself as long as the images reflect young men’s experiences. </p>
<p>Being able to hear the artist’s own reflections, perspectives and stories about specific paintings is a unique opportunity for rock art researchers globally. Our ongoing community-led project aims to learn more about Samburu lmurran life-worlds and to bring their stories to the world, also benefiting the local Samburu communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joakim Goldhahn holds the Rock Art Australia Ian Potter Kimberley Chair at the Centre of Rock Art Research + Management at the University of Western Australia. This project is funded by the Swedish Institute, Creative Force.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Currently Linnaeus University, LNU, Kalmar, Sweden is running a two-year community building project, together with Empower Northern Frontier, ENF, an NGO in northern Kenya, on Samburu rock art, a unique heritage. The persons involved in the project are I, Peter, Joakim and Sada from LNU and Steven and Muchemi Njeru from ENF. The project is funded by the Swedish Institute, Creative Force.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Skoglund is working together with the NGO Empower the Northern Frontier (ENF) in a community-based project on Samburu rock art. He receives funding from The Swedish Institute. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Longoida Labarakwe is working together with the NGO Empower the Northern Frontier (ENF) in a community-based project on Samburu rock art. He receives funding from The Swedish Institute. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sada Mire does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Instead of displaying myths, Samburu rock art reveals real-life stories and is made as a leisure activity.Joakim Goldhahn, Rock Art Australia Ian Potter Kimberley Chair, The University of Western AustraliaEbbe Westergren, Honorary Doctor, Linnaeus UniversityPeter Skoglund, Professor in Archaeology, Linnaeus UniversitySada Mire, Associate Professor in Archaeology, UCLSteven Longoida Labarakwe, Director of Empower the Northern Frontier, Linnaeus UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1030172018-09-12T17:05:55Z2018-09-12T17:05:55ZSouth Africa’s Blombos cave is home to the earliest drawing by a human<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235777/original/file-20180911-144455-vbpajf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The drawing found on silcrete stone in Blombos Cave.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Craig Foster</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Scientists working in Blombos Cave in South Africa’s southern Cape region have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0514-3">made a discovery</a> that changes our understanding of when our human ancestors started expressing themselves through drawings. They’ve found a 73 000-year-old cross-hatched drawing on a silcrete (stone) flake. It was made with an ochre crayon. The Conversation Africa asked Professor Christopher Henshilwood, who leads the team that made the discovery, about its significance.</em></p>
<p><strong>What does the drawing your team found look like?</strong></p>
<p>It consists of a set of six straight sub-parallel lines crossed obliquely by three slightly curved lines. One line partially overlaps the edge of a flake scar. This suggests it was made after that flake became detached. The abrupt termination of all lines on the fragment edges indicates that the pattern originally extended over a larger surface. </p>
<p>So the pattern was probably more complex and structured in its entirety than in this truncated form. </p>
<p><strong>This has shifted our thinking about when human ancestors started drawing. What was the earliest known drawing found before this?</strong></p>
<p>The earliest known engraving, a zig-zag pattern incised on a fresh water shell from Trinil, Java, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/oldest-engraving-shell-tools-zigzags-art-java-indonesia-humans-180953522/">was found</a> in layers dated to 540 000 years ago. In terms of drawings, a <a href="http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/iberian-peninsulas-earliest-cave-paintings-neanderthals-05756.html">recent article proposed</a> that painted representations in three caves of the Iberian Peninsula were 64,000 years old – this would mean they were produced by Neanderthals. So the drawing on the Blombos silcrete flake is the oldest drawing by <em>Homo sapiens</em> ever found.</p>
<p><strong>You describe it as a “drawing” – how can you be sure it wasn’t just a random series of scratches?</strong></p>
<p>The presence of similar cross-hatched patterns engraved on ochre fragments found in the same archaeological level and older levels suggests the pattern in question was reproduced with different techniques on different media. </p>
<p>This is what we would expect to find in a society with a symbolic system embedded in different categories of artefacts. It’s also worth noting that patterns drawn on a stone are less durable than those engraved on an ochre fragment and may not survive transport. This may indicate that comparable signs were produced in different contexts, possibly for different purposes. </p>
<p><strong>Is there any reason to think the pattern is an artwork?</strong></p>
<p>We would be hesitant to call it “art”. It is definitely an abstract design; it almost certainly had some meaning to the maker and probably formed a part of the common symbolic system understood by other people in this group. It’s also evidence of early humans’ ability to store information outside of the human brain.</p>
<p><strong>Does it tell us anything else about the people who made it? And do we know which group they belonged to on our ancestral tree?</strong> </p>
<p>The drawing was made by <a href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens"><em>Homo sapiens</em></a> – people like us, who were our ancient direct ancestors. They were hunter-gatherers who lived in groups of between 20 and 40 people.</p>
<p>The discovery adds to our existing understanding of <em>Homo sapiens</em> in Africa. They were behaviourally modern: they behaved essentially like us. They were able to produce and use symbolic material culture to mediate their behaviour, just like we do now. They also had syntactic language – essential for conveying symbolic meaning within and across groups of hunter gatherers who were present in southern Africa at that time.</p>
<p><strong>Blombos Cave is a really significant archaeological site. Can you explain why?</strong></p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235812/original/file-20180911-144485-1fox2tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235812/original/file-20180911-144485-1fox2tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235812/original/file-20180911-144485-1fox2tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235812/original/file-20180911-144485-1fox2tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235812/original/file-20180911-144485-1fox2tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235812/original/file-20180911-144485-1fox2tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235812/original/file-20180911-144485-1fox2tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235812/original/file-20180911-144485-1fox2tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The outside of Blombos Cave, where the drawing was discovered.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Magnus Haaland</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Blombos Cave is situated 50 m from the Indian Ocean, elevated at 35 m above sea level and 300 km east of Cape Town. It’s very small – just 55m². It was used as a temporary living site by hunter gatherer groups; they’d spend a week or two there at a time before moving on.</p>
<p>The archaeological layer in which the Blombos drawing was discovered has also yielded other indicators of symbolic thinking. These include <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-excavated-beads-tell-us-about-the-when-and-where-of-human-evolution-53695">shell beads</a> covered with ochre and, more importantly, pieces of ochres engraved with abstract patterns. Some of these engravings closely resemble the one drawn on the silcrete flake. </p>
<p>In older layers at Blombos Cave, dated at 100 000 years, they also discovered a complete toolkit consisting of two abalone shells filled with an ochre rich substance – a red paint – and all the artefacts associated with making it including seal bone used to add fat to the mixture. This discovery proves that our early ancestors could also make paint by 100 000 years ago.</p>
<p>Engraved ochre slabs with various designs, including cross-hatched patterns, were also found in these older layers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103017/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Henshilwood receives funding from his DST/NRF SARChI Chair at Wits University, as well as through a Research Council of Norway Centre of Excellence grant, Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE) at the University of Bergen, Norway.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Loise van Niekerk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new discovery adds to our existing understanding of Homo sapiens in Africa.Christopher Henshilwood, Professor of Evolutionary Studies, Professor of African Prehistory, University of BergenKaren Loise van Niekerk, Principal Investigator, SapienCE - Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour, University of BergenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1010942018-08-19T19:52:57Z2018-08-19T19:52:57ZHow ‘bling’ makes us human<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231617/original/file-20180813-2903-1mo7n1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Necklaces and earrings in traditional Kenyan cultures denote messages about marriage and childbearing. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/samburu-kenya-august-2014-portrait-african-743948542?src=hjwE9tHxmcMxXsD0ocsAvA-1-6">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sparkly jewellery, expensive shoes, designer watches – who doesn’t love a bit of “bling”? </p>
<p>In 2017 Australians spent <a href="https://au.fashionunited.com/fashion-industry-statistics-australia">A$28.5 billion</a> on ornamenting themselves with clothing, cosmetics, and accessories.</p>
<p>But this obsession with decorating our bodies isn’t just a trivial activity. Archaeological evidence shows us it’s actually a large part of what makes us human.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ice-age-art-and-jewellery-found-in-an-indonesian-cave-reveal-an-ancient-symbolic-culture-75390">Ice age art and 'jewellery' found in an Indonesian cave reveal an ancient symbolic culture</a>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231614/original/file-20180813-2915-joajdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231614/original/file-20180813-2915-joajdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231614/original/file-20180813-2915-joajdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231614/original/file-20180813-2915-joajdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=830&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231614/original/file-20180813-2915-joajdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231614/original/file-20180813-2915-joajdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231614/original/file-20180813-2915-joajdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1043&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An engagement ring sends the message ‘I’m going to be married’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ellen-degeneres-portia-de-rossi-35th-183454907?src=vysQ8dEwwJGmTxXj2POMFA-1-6">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why jewellery is important</h2>
<p>Why do we spend so much on decorating ourselves? In short, it’s because we use bling to communicate. </p>
<p>For example, consider engagement rings. It’s well understood in many countries that a sparkle on the ring finger of the left hand means that the wearer is engaged to be married. That ring sends a particular message. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231622/original/file-20180813-2903-18unq9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231622/original/file-20180813-2903-18unq9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231622/original/file-20180813-2903-18unq9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231622/original/file-20180813-2903-18unq9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231622/original/file-20180813-2903-18unq9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231622/original/file-20180813-2903-18unq9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231622/original/file-20180813-2903-18unq9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231622/original/file-20180813-2903-18unq9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How we use our ‘bling’ to send messages.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Drawn by M. Langley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indeed, everything we wear is sending messages. We are all familiar with phrases such as “power suits” and “statement pieces”. The items we choose to wear tell those around us who we are: professionals, athletes, doctors, artists, mothers, and so on. Some choices are conscious, others not so much – but nevertheless everything we wear is telling a story.</p>
<h2>Blingy birds and fancy fishes</h2>
<p>When I talk publicly about the use of bling by people, audience members often bring up the case of <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/01/19/male-bowerbirds-use-forced-perspective-architecture-to-get-more-sex/#.W2vABC1L1Bx">satin bowerbirds</a>. The male of this species builds an intricate bower before decorating it with blue objects. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231197/original/file-20180809-142251-1hteqw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231197/original/file-20180809-142251-1hteqw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231197/original/file-20180809-142251-1hteqw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231197/original/file-20180809-142251-1hteqw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231197/original/file-20180809-142251-1hteqw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231197/original/file-20180809-142251-1hteqw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231197/original/file-20180809-142251-1hteqw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231197/original/file-20180809-142251-1hteqw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Satin Bowerbird collects blue objects to decorate his bower – but it’s not symbolic behaviour.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, but under water, male pufferfish create gorgeous geometric patterns in the ocean floor. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B91tozyQs9M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Pufferfish ‘art’?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But how is this seemingly artistic behaviour any different to what we humans do? </p>
<p>The short answer is <em>abstract thought</em>. </p>
<p>The bowerbird and the pufferfish are focused on attracting a mate. Their message is simple: “I’m here and I’m healthy.” There is no conversation about how they should send this message – they just … do it. </p>
<p>Our messages – those we humans are sending through our bling – are coded using agreed symbols (like a diamond ring) which we <em>decide</em> stands for something else (“engaged to be married”). </p>
<p>This process of agreeing amongst ourselves that a certain thing can stand for something completely different is what makes us human. And jewellery has been central to this unique ability for hundreds of thousands of years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rethinking-homo-sapiens-the-story-of-our-origins-gets-dizzyingly-complicated-99760">Rethinking _Homo sapiens_? The story of our origins gets dizzyingly complicated</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Decorating our bodies: expanding our minds</h2>
<p>For archaeologists, finding body adornments is the closest thing to finding prehistoric thought. Their first appearance in the archaeological record tells us when the human mind had become sophisticated enough to conceive of individual identities.</p>
<p>Originally, humanity lived in small groups that were spread out across the landscape. Everyone knew everyone, and interactions between complete strangers were a rare occurrence.</p>
<p>Growing populations, however, led to an increasingly complex social world in which we didn’t know every individual personally. This meant we needed to start telling people who we were. </p>
<p>So, we began wearing certain things to send messages regarding our personal status (available, married, leader, healer) and group affiliations. </p>
<p>This use of body decorations enabled humans to continue expanding our communities, which lead to more complex behaviours and more complex minds.</p>
<h2>Origins in body paint</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230693/original/file-20180806-119612-ypk2qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230693/original/file-20180806-119612-ypk2qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230693/original/file-20180806-119612-ypk2qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230693/original/file-20180806-119612-ypk2qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230693/original/file-20180806-119612-ypk2qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230693/original/file-20180806-119612-ypk2qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230693/original/file-20180806-119612-ypk2qs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reconstruction of a Neanderthal man wearing body paint and eagle feathers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">by Fabio Fogliazza, Human Evolution Museum (MEH)-Junta de Castilla y León (Spain)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The earliest evidence for bling is red pigments – mineral earth ochres – which were used as body paints by modern humans (<em>Homo sapiens</em> like ourselves) some <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248400904354">285,000 years ago in Africa</a>.</p>
<p>Interestingly, it appears that not long after (around 250,000 years ago), <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/6/1889">Neanderthals</a> were doing the same thing in Europe. </p>
<p>However, body paint only lasts for so long – until you wash, it rains, or it simply wears off. It has a time limit. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-use-of-ochre-tells-us-about-the-capabilities-of-our-african-ancestry-47081">What the use of ochre tells us about the capabilities of our African ancestry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Beads, beads, and more beads</h2>
<p>Beads, on the other hand, can last for generations. This ability to be used and reused significantly outweighs the time and energy it takes to make them – and by at least 100,000 years ago, people both needed and recognised the advantages of beads. </p>
<p>Around this time, people in Africa and in Israel were seeking out tiny white shells called <em>Nassarius</em>, punching a hole through their surface so they could be strung, and using them alongside red body paint.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231239/original/file-20180809-30461-7sz44s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231239/original/file-20180809-30461-7sz44s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231239/original/file-20180809-30461-7sz44s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231239/original/file-20180809-30461-7sz44s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231239/original/file-20180809-30461-7sz44s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231239/original/file-20180809-30461-7sz44s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231239/original/file-20180809-30461-7sz44s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231239/original/file-20180809-30461-7sz44s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Location of some of the earliest evidence for body adornment (Red dot = ochre; Yellow dot = Bead or bone ornament): (1) Maastricht-Belvédère, (2) Grotte des Pigeons, (3) Skhul, (4) Qafzeh, (5) GnJh-15, (6) Blombos, (7) Jerimalai, (8) Madjedbebe, (9) Carpenter’s Gap 1.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Drawn by M. Langley.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is not an accident that the oldest beads are made from seashells: they come in shapes we like (round), colours we like (white/cream/black), and are shiny (we like this <em>a lot</em>). Small shells are also hardy, being able to withstand being jolted or dropped (useful). </p>
<p>What’s more, they can be worn in a wide variety of ways – allowing us to transmit many different messages. </p>
<p>Soon we found other light coloured and shiny materials (bone, tooth, ivory, antler, stone) to make new types of ornaments and send even more messages.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231256/original/file-20180809-30464-3swclf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231256/original/file-20180809-30464-3swclf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231256/original/file-20180809-30464-3swclf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231256/original/file-20180809-30464-3swclf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231256/original/file-20180809-30464-3swclf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231256/original/file-20180809-30464-3swclf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231256/original/file-20180809-30464-3swclf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231256/original/file-20180809-30464-3swclf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shell beads such as these were made in Southeast Asia from at least 42,000-years-ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image: M. Langley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/worlds-scientists-turn-to-asia-and-australia-to-rewrite-human-history-88697">World's scientists turn to Asia and Australia to rewrite human history</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Getting inked</h2>
<p>What’s more permanent than beads? Inserting ink into the dermis layer of the skin – also known as tattooing. </p>
<p>Sculptures from Europe suggest that tattooing may have an antiquity of at least 30,000 years, though the earliest indisputable evidence for tattooing is currently the Tyrolean iceman commonly known as “Ötzi”. </p>
<p>The victim of murder some 5,300 years ago, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/02/mapping-61-ancient-tattoos-on-a-5300-year-old-mummy/385198/">Ötzi sports some 61 skin markings</a>. Similarly aged are two <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/ancient-egyptian-mummy-tattoos-spd/">predynastic Egyptian mummies</a>, while a younger, spectacular example is a <a href="https://siberiantimes.com/culture/others/features/siberian-princess-reveals-her-2500-year-old-tattoos/">2,500-year-old Siberian princess</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/spells-charms-erotic-dolls-love-magic-in-the-ancient-mediterranean-98459">Spells, charms, erotic dolls: love magic in the ancient Mediterranean</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Tattooing also has an impressive history throughout the Pacific, inspiring modern practices while simultaneously passing on ancient stories. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-dVm663sm44?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The significance of traditional Pacific tattooing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-gem-and-why-painite-from-myanmar-can-fetch-us-60-000-per-carat-97453">What is a gem? And why painite from Myanmar can fetch US$60,000 per carat</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Bling is human</h2>
<p>Because bling is so closely tied to communication, archaeologists are able to track not only the development of our minds, but also the development of our societies. </p>
<p>For us, more bling in the archaeological record indicates more interactions. Traded bling tells us who was talking to whom. And new types of bling reflect changed circumstances. </p>
<p>All bling is valuable because it tells us something about the person who wore it.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is based on a series of lectures Michelle delivered at the <a href="http://abbeymuseum.com.au/">Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology</a> and the <a href="https://www.griffith.edu.au/arts-education-law/queensland-college-art">Queensland College of Art - Griffith University</a> in July and August 2018.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101094/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Langley is an Australian Research Council DECRA Research Fellow in the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University.</span></em></p>Why is jewellery so important to the story of human evolution? Because it provides a public message – even to people we don’t know.Michelle Langley, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/854552017-10-19T22:59:22Z2017-10-19T22:59:22ZWhen bacteria tell a story: tracing Indigenous Australian ochre sources via microbial ‘fingerprinting’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190982/original/file-20171019-1062-cj1m30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indigenous Australians use ochre to add colour and detail to items such as this shield at the South Australian Museum. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/">Image courtesy of South Australian Museum</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We have found a <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185252">new method</a> for pinpointing the geological origins of ochre found in Indigenous Australian artefacts. </p>
<p>The technique relies on RNA (a form of genetic material) from soil microbes to identify the ochre source. </p>
<p>This provides a fresh approach to understanding the inherent “fingerprint” of the origins of the natural pigment, and a new tool in the kit for the analysis of archaeological materials. </p>
<p>It can help us look back in time to see from where ochre was sourced, and how it may have been exchanged by Indigenous Australians. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5YcMcpvD8-E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Telling stories through ochre.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history-of-humans-in-australia-for-65-000-years-81021">Buried tools and pigments tell a new history of humans in Australia for 65,000 years</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The complexity of ochre</h2>
<p>Natural mineral pigments such as ochre are the palette of cultural expression for Indigenous Australians, from when their <a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history-of-humans-in-australia-for-65-000-years-81021">forebears first arrived</a> on this continent, and still today.</p>
<p>The intense colours stand the test of time for illuminating traditions. Although universally used across Australia, the <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/ay/c5ay01547b#!divAbstract">minerals are obtained</a> from specific, culturally significant locations. These pigments were exchanged across the continent as part of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10967-011-1236-2">cultural exchange</a> over many thousands of years. </p>
<p>Ochre itself is a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10967-006-6836-x">complex chemical mixture</a> of minerals, ores and weathered materials that are representative of its genesis and history. </p>
<p>But similar to other soils and geological materials, ochre also contains <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0104996">once-living, or still alive components</a>, such as bacteria, fungi and plants.</p>
<p>All of these microorganisms are a source of genetic materials such as DNA and RNA: together, they generate a rich data set to compare and identify ochre samples. The pattern of biological components in ochre reflects the genesis and history of that ochre. </p>
<h2>Ochre trading routes</h2>
<p>In the case of Indigenous natural mineral pigments, records that describe the first points of interaction between Europeans and Indigenous Australians document <a href="http://palaeoworks.anu.edu.au/pubs/Smith&Fankhauser%202009_Ochre%20Provenancing.pdf">extensive cultural exchange</a> in ochre along established routes. In some cases, these were known to extend hundreds of kilometres.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether these routes were relatively local or across the continent, the majority of them are now lost post-European contact. In addition to <a href="http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/magazine/archive/volume_60">material exchange of pigments and other materials</a>, these exchange networks promoted interchange of cultural networks and communities, and are an important part of Indigenous Australian culture. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190985/original/file-20171019-1075-1d427s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190985/original/file-20171019-1075-1d427s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190985/original/file-20171019-1075-1d427s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190985/original/file-20171019-1075-1d427s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190985/original/file-20171019-1075-1d427s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190985/original/file-20171019-1075-1d427s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190985/original/file-20171019-1075-1d427s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ochre colour and mineral characteristics vary from site to site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rachel S. Popelka-Filcoff</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly to a forensic investigation, advanced archaeological science methods can be used to uncover the original “fingerprint” and therefore the original source of the raw materials, and potentially reconstruct these exchange networks lost to history.</p>
<p>Previously, we have used several techniques aimed at identifying where ochre originated based on the chemical and physical fingerprint of the material. These include analysis of elements such as arsenic, zinc, and antimony (known as <a href="http://www.anthropologysocietysa.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Popelka-Paper-2012.pdf">trace elements</a>), <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2016/an/c5an02065d">composition of minerals</a> in the iron oxide, and mapping out the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10967-011-1236-2">patterns of composition</a> of <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/ay/c5ay01547b#!divAbstract">different ochres</a>. </p>
<p>For this study we demonstrated in a proof of concept that analysis of microbe RNA, a form of genetic material, can be used to discriminate between samples from four known ochre sites. This profiling can be used to identify a particular ochre material. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190510/original/file-20171016-22304-u0rdr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190510/original/file-20171016-22304-u0rdr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190510/original/file-20171016-22304-u0rdr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190510/original/file-20171016-22304-u0rdr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190510/original/file-20171016-22304-u0rdr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190510/original/file-20171016-22304-u0rdr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190510/original/file-20171016-22304-u0rdr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Geographic locations of the ochre sources sampled in this study. Modified and reprinted with permission.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://d-maps.com/index.php">d-map.com</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Determining the composition of microbes in ochres by RNA sequencing can now be used as a technique in archaeological science.</p>
<p>In addition to effectively discriminating ochre sources, this relatively non-destructive technique could be applied to the analysis and provenance – that is, identifying the original source and site – of a range of cultural materials. </p>
<h2>When artefacts move about</h2>
<p>The concept of provenance is a critical one in archaeology. When an artefact is found at an archaeological site, it implies the item was deposited or discarded by an earlier culture or individual. </p>
<p>Here, stratigraphy – the understanding of the layering of archaeological remains at a site relative to their age – <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131762">becomes important</a>. </p>
<p>By examining objects relative to the stratigraphy of the site or relative to other cultural remains, archaeologists can interpret the age and use of the object. The interpretations are based on careful evaluation of visual evidence. </p>
<p>In the all too common situation where the object has been far removed from its original location (perhaps by cultural upheaval, cultural exchange or colonisation), the original provenance and all the contextual information about the origins of the object is lost. However, the object retains a chemical and physical “fingerprint” of the original raw material.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/terahertz-spectroscopy-the-new-tool-to-help-detect-art-fraud-77173">Terahertz spectroscopy: the new tool to help detect art fraud</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Humans now, humans then</h2>
<p>Humans throughout time have used a range of technologies to manipulate raw materials, and transform them to suit purposes for everyday living and culture. </p>
<p>In the present, contemporary cultures transform petroleum products into plastics and ores into high-tech metals, perhaps with a manufacturer’s name and production code. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190984/original/file-20171019-1075-uw0shd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190984/original/file-20171019-1075-uw0shd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190984/original/file-20171019-1075-uw0shd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190984/original/file-20171019-1075-uw0shd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190984/original/file-20171019-1075-uw0shd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190984/original/file-20171019-1075-uw0shd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190984/original/file-20171019-1075-uw0shd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The South Australian Museum has many Indigenous Australian artefacts, and new techniques are helping to identify the sources of ochre used to paint them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ashton Claridge (Flinders University) and SA Museum</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the past, people used technology of the time to transform natural materials into tools and minerals into pigments. But in most cultures these items do not have an indication of the original manufacturer or date. </p>
<p>Archaeological science provides many tools to understand the use of raw materials and how these materials transform into cultural objects. Common questions that can be addressed include identifying the original raw material, site of the object as well as understanding the technology of the manufacturer. </p>
<p>With sufficient samples and analysis, it can be possible to not only identify the original raw materials of the artefact, but also to begin to understand how objects were exchanged between and within cultural groups. </p>
<p>We can then untangle cultural interactions that are otherwise lost to time.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>We gratefully acknowledge the South Australian Museum Board and South Australian Museum Aboriginal Advisory Group for support to access and analyse the collections. We also thank the staff at the South Australian Museum Aboriginal Australian Collections for access to the collections. We are also grateful to Professor Mike Smith (National Museum of Australia) and other collaborators for access to their collections for analysis.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel S. Popelka-Filcoff received funding from Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Research Fellowship for this project. </span></em></p>Ochre is more than just paint - it tells stories of culture and trade in Indigenous Australians. Using museum artefacts plus science can track ochre sources and untangle a lost history.Rachel S. Popelka-Filcoff, Associate Professor , Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/839112017-09-18T16:19:50Z2017-09-18T16:19:50ZVirtual reality breathes new life into African fossils, art and artefacts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185670/original/file-20170912-10821-wdtqno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This picture of a reconstruction of a hominin skull is one of a variety of multimedia that can be experienced in the Origins Virtual Reality experience.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wits University</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Digital technology has become an integral part of our everyday lives. So it was only a matter of time before the ways people interact with the past and ancient artefacts in museum settings became digital, too. </p>
<p>The problem is that technology can be extremely expensive. Many museums just don’t have the funding to obtain, develop and maintain fancy devices or interactive digital gadgets. Some big European and North American museums, which receive millions of visitors each year, have been able to afford virtual reality (VR) and various other digital technologies. These are an appealing and popular element of the visitor experience. </p>
<p>For example, you can tour the <a href="http://blog.britishmuseum.org/new-virtual-reality-tour-with-oculus/">British Museum</a> in London using VR. Visitors to the <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/">Smithsonian American Art Museum</a> in Washington, DC can download an app to experience one of the exhibits in VR. </p>
<p>More digital avenues are being added to South Africa’s museums – and now the country has its first full VR exhibit. It will launch at the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/origins/">Origins Centre</a> at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg on 25 September and will take visitors on a journey through hundreds of thousands of years of human history, art and innovation. <a href="http://wits.academia.edu/TammyHodgskiss">I am a</a> Middle Stone Age archaeologist and ochre specialist, and have been part of the team putting the exhibit together over the past four months. </p>
<p>Along the way, we’ve had to work out how to marry facts, interpretations, stories and technology. This hasn’t always been easy, but there have been a number of lessons along the way: most crucially, about the value of collaborative, interdisciplinary work to bring science to life.</p>
<h2>Getting started</h2>
<p>Steven Sack, the director of the Origins Centre and Professor Barry Dwolatzky, who runs the university’s <a href="http://www.tshimologong.joburg/">Tshimologong Digital Precinct</a>, were the exhibit’s initial champions. The precinct is a technology hub. Dwolatzky was so enthusiastic about the idea of VR at the Origins Centre that he personally donated money towards it. Armed with this and a grant from the <a href="http://www.nihss.ac.za/">National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences</a>, we got started.</p>
<p>The next step was to develop VR hardware – headsets loaded in the content we went on to produce. For this, we had to look beyond academia and bring in a team from <a href="http://altreality.co.za/">Alt-Reality</a>, a company in Johannesburg. </p>
<p>My role was to provide guidance on my own areas of expertise, and to act as a link between the Origins Centre and Professor Chris Henshilwood, for whom I work at the university’s <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/esi/">Evolutionary Studies Institute</a>. It was one of the institutes that provided a great deal of content for the VR exhibit.</p>
<p>Lara Mallen, a rock art specialist who was the curator at the Origins Centre, was a crucial part of the project: her knowledge of the centre’s displays and her intricate understanding of the rock art was vital in developing the content. </p>
<p>I bugged many of my peers in the Evolutionary Studies Institute, <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/rockart/">Rock Art Research Institute</a> and <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/gaes/">School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies</a> at Wits University as well as researchers at other institutions for their opinions and images. We also sourced video and digital content from their research that we could include in the VR exhibit. They were all intrigued and excited by the chance to share their work in a totally new, different form.</p>
<p>Then came the balancing act: what would work well in VR, how much content could we have and what was missing. It was a very organic and ever-changing process. We continually revised, cut and added content. </p>
<p>The visitor can chose what they want to see and what they want to learn more about. They can see (and hear) how people made stone tools and ground ochre 100,000 years ago, or they can be transported into a painted rock shelter while also being able to see the individual images right up close.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185983/original/file-20170914-8975-kg5pz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185983/original/file-20170914-8975-kg5pz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185983/original/file-20170914-8975-kg5pz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185983/original/file-20170914-8975-kg5pz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185983/original/file-20170914-8975-kg5pz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185983/original/file-20170914-8975-kg5pz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185983/original/file-20170914-8975-kg5pz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An ochre processing toolkit from the Blombos caves. VR allows visitors to see how the process worked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">C Henshilwood</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Telling stories in new ways</h2>
<p>As an academic I wanted to make sure that we presented a factual yet exciting summary of the Origin Centre’s content. That wasn’t at all straightforward. </p>
<p>We had to decide what stories we chose to tell, how we wanted to tell them – and whether our interpretations were correct. Bringing the past into a digital space creates so much more overt space for interpretation and different narratives. Traditional museum panels explain what an object is and how old it is. The VR actually shows how it worked and the process archaeologists have used to find that out.</p>
<p>One of the most valuable aspects of this project has been the opportunity to diversify traditional narratives around archaeology. Women and children have been somewhat neglected in archaeological interpretations, especially since in the past most histories were written by (white) men. This has tended to present a simplistic picture of prehistoric societies: men hunting, women gathering.</p>
<p>But there was more to it than that. Stone tools had to be made; poison was collected on use on the tips. Fires needed to be built and ochre ground to create paint for ritual. VR gives more space to explain the answers and explore the nuances of prehistoric societies.</p>
<p>Collaborating with a team of researchers of different ages, backgrounds and genders means a more unbiased picture of the past can be created. The VR content allows anyone to interact with the artefacts – female, male, young and old. They can immerse themselves in it and draw their own conclusions. </p>
<p>The digital experience might also appeal more to younger people and hopefully bring more young visitors into the museum. But it’s accessible, enlightening and informative and older people will enjoy it too.</p>
<h2>Collaboration is exciting</h2>
<p>As a scientist, I think these kinds of interactive museum displays are vital in aiding deeper understanding and interest in a topic. The same applies to archaeological research. </p>
<p>Being able to manipulate or reconstruct artefacts and use them helps us to understand how and why they were used or created. Being in the team that has conceptualised and created the Origins Centre’s VR content has reminded me that collaborative and interdisciplinary work – even though sometimes tricky to start – can be so fulfilling and revolutionary.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tammy Hodgskiss does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bringing the past into a digital space creates so much more overt space for interpretation and different narratives.Tammy Hodgskiss, Research Associate, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/470812015-09-07T04:07:27Z2015-09-07T04:07:27ZWhat the use of ochre tells us about the capabilities of our African ancestry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93984/original/image-20150906-14625-19q8v1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ochre is still used throughout parts of Africa as a form of sunscreen. Its uses go back 285,000 years. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The use of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/12090780/Ochre_use_at_Sibudu_Cave_and_its_link_to_complex_cognition_in_the_Middle_Stone_Age">ochre</a> dates to the <a href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/behavior/tools/middle-tools">Middle Stone Age</a> and <a href="http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/qt/middle_paleolit.htm">Middle Palaeolithic</a>. The earliest evidence of its use in Africa dates 285 000 years.</p>
<p>In Africa, ochre is used for protection from the sun and as a barrier from insects such as mosquitos. It has also been scientifically proven to inhibit the effects of UV radiation. There are many other uses. </p>
<p><a href="http://archaeology.about.com/od/oterms/qt/Ochre.htm">Ochre</a> is an umbrella term for a range of earthy, iron-rich rocks composed of iron oxides or oxyhydroxides, such as shales, sandstones, mudstones and specularite. </p>
<h2>Why the fuss</h2>
<p>Ochre appears in the archaeological record around the same time as anatomically modern humans. Its use became more frequent from about 100,000 years ago at many Middle Stone Age sites. </p>
<p>At the same time, we find other significant developments in the material culture, such as new tool technologies and the use of a wide range of raw materials. Consequently, ochre is often seen as an indicator of “modern human behaviour” and cognitive development through its use as an indicator of symbolic behaviour. </p>
<p>This is reinforced by the preferential use of bright red ochre and ochre powder, as well as the deliberate engraving of ochre. Therefore, archaeological studies of the use of ochre can give fresh insights into the cognitive development of our early ancestors.</p>
<h2>Past and present uses of ochre</h2>
<p>Current and ethnographic uses of ochre have influenced interpretations of how it was used in the Middle and Later Stone Age. This must be done with caution because ochre has many different uses and we cannot assume that it was used in the same way in the past as it is today. Nevertheless, a great deal is now known about the properties of ochre. Here are some of its confirmed uses:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Ochre is used as an adhesive. Its powder is an effective aggregate in resin adhesives to mount tools onto handles or <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/106/24/9590.full">shafts</a>. Evidence of it being used in this way is found in the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618212001140">Middle Stone Age</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>It was also used to tan hide. Ochre has anti-bacterial qualities which prevent the breakdown of collagen. This helps <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Riaan_Rifkin/publication/257944765_Assessing_the_efficacy_of_red_ochre_as_a_prehistoric_hide-tanning_ingredient/links/0deec5266bd1158551000000.pdf">preserve hides</a>. There is no direct evidence of its use as a hide tanning substance in the Middle Stone Age as no hides are preserved. But <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440310002761">traces</a> on the ochre pieces indicate that some pieces were rubbed on <a href="http://www.eva.mpg.de/evolution/pdf/Soressi%20et%20D'errico%202007%20in%20Vandermeersch%20et%20Maureille.pdf">soft materials</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>It is more commonly known for protection from the sun protection. Ochre-based pastes has been used as protection from the sun as well as a barrier from insects like <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Riaan_Rifkin/publication/264623585_Ethnographic_and_experimental_perspectives_on_the_efficacy_of_red_ochre_as_a_mosquito_repellent/links/559d2dd208ae76bed0bad645.pdf">mosquitos</a>. It has been scientifically proven to inhibit the effects of <a href="http://www.sajs.co.za/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/Rifkin_Research%20Article_0.pdf">ultra-violet radiation</a>. It is still used as a sunscreen today, for example, by the Ovahimba in Namibia. </p></li>
<li><p>Ochre pigments were, and still are, widely used in paint and artwork. Many of the red and yellow pigments in rock art panels around the world are made with ochre-based paints. There is limited evidence for the creation of ochre paint in the Middle Stone Age, but 30,000 years ago its use as a <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6053/219.full">paint</a> was established.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Connecting the dots</h2>
<p>Links between the visible uses of ochre and cognition have not been clearly defined. To reconstruct the technology and processes involved in using ochre, it is important to understand the physical and chemical qualities of this material, whether as pieces or in powdered form. It is then possible to conclude whether ochre was used in the same way in the ancient past as it was in the recent past.</p>
<p>The main ways that ochre was used in the Middle Stone Age was by grinding pieces on coarse sandstone slab to create powder, scoring (or engraving) pieces with sharp tools, or rubbing ochre on soft surfaces, such as animal hide or human skin. </p>
<p>Grinding, to create a powder, is the most common use trace on Middle Stone Age ochre pieces. Red ochre appears to be preferentially ground at many Middle Stone Age sites implying that bright red powder was desired. Additionally, ochre powder has been found on various archaeological artefacts in this period such as stone tools, grindstones, perforated shell beads and bone tools. </p>
<p>The construction of thought-and-action cognitive sequences for activities involving the use of ochre has helped to reconstruct which actions require enhanced cognitive functions.</p>
<p>To model these sequences, each activity performed with ochre <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9398689&fileId=S0959774314000663">must be considered</a> – from collection, to possible modification by heat, to use with other tools, to discard.</p>
<p>By reconstructing the series of actions we can look at the <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8589664&fileId=S095977431200025X">cognitive requirements</a> needed to perform them, such as problem solving abilities, the need to switch attention between two concurrent activities, long range planning and response inhibition.</p>
<p>The requirement for cognitively complex abilities in some of the ochre-related activities in the Middle Stone Age suggests that the people living then had the advanced mental capabilities of people today. Ochre use could be a proxy for cognitive capabilities, and can therefore shed light on the evolution of the modern mind.</p>
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<p><em>This article is based on a submission by the author to the <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0959774314000663">Cambridge Archaeological Journal</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tammy Reynard receives funding from The Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences (CoE_PAL), The National Research Foundation (NRF), The Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) and The Mellon Fondation.</span></em></p>Ochre has many uses. It can be used to shed information on the evolution of the modern mind.Tammy Hodgskiss, Postdoctoral Fellow, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/459122015-08-14T03:56:23Z2015-08-14T03:56:23ZPaint gives clues about the ingenuity of ancient culture<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91807/original/image-20150813-21425-1bxuub2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Impala drink at a waterhole in South Africa's Kruger National Park. Milk used in paint nearly 49,000 years ago could have come from their early antecedents.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Jon Hrusa</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How do we know when people developed minds capable of solving problems in the way that we do today? Archaeologists cannot excavate human minds from the past: they can only recover the material remains created by those minds. In the case of the people of <a href="http://archaeology.about.com/od/shthroughsiterms/qt/sibudu_cave.htm">Sibudu Cave</a> in KwaZulu-Natal, we can see that some items that they made required special skills that could only have been undertaken with minds like ours. </p>
<p>Mixing substances, like tempera paint, is one example of behaviour that involves the sort of brain power that we associate with people today. Sibudu’s people made paint from powdered ochre and milk extracts from wild animals because the process took place 49,000 years before the arrival of cows. </p>
<p>It is clear that that this type of composite paint cannot be made from precise recipes because the attributes of natural ingredients, like absorbency, vary according to local conditions. An artist must decide on recipe quantities while assembling the paint mix, and may need to make changes swiftly to avoid spoiling the product. </p>
<p>The ability to do this implies long attention spans, a capacity for multi-tasking and the ability to plan the assembly of ingredients. Such behaviour, also inferred from the making of compound adhesives at Sibudu, implies complex cognition of the kind possessed by modern people. </p>
<h2>The analysis</h2>
<p><a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131273">Discovered</a> by an international team of researchers, the unusual paint mixture used approximately 49,000 years ago at Sibudu Cave shows that milk was used as a binder well before the introduction of domestic cattle in South Africa in the first millennium AD.</p>
<p>The paint mixture contained red powdered ochre and casein, which is dried milk protein. Casein is an ingredient of <a href="http://www.crayola.com/things-to-do/how-to-landing/tempera-paint.aspx">tempera paint</a>, though some recipes use egg.</p>
<p>The casein was clearly not human, nor equid, but it closely resembled bovid. Domestic cows are bovids, but cattle were not present in southern Africa 49,000 years ago. The earliest date for these is AD 420 from the site of <a href="http://www.sahumanities.org/ojs/index.php/SAH/article/download/81/71">Mzonjani</a>, near Durban, where early farmers kept cattle.</p>
<p>Because the Sibudu paint predates cattle farming, it must have been made from the milk of a wild bovid. Bones of bovids that are known to have been the prey of the early hunters such as buffalo, eland, kudu, impala and duiker have been found at the site.</p>
<p>Sibudu is already well known for having the earliest evidence in the world (77,000 years ago) for plant bedding with insecticidal properties, as well as early engraving of bone and ochre, and the manufacture of marine shell beads.</p>
<p>The paint residue looks like cracked mud on the edge of a small stone flake excavated from the cave. A micro-sample (3.3 mg) of residue was removed from the flake for testing. The researchers used elemental analyses (scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and chemical analyses (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) to establish that powdered ochre was mixed with milk in its liquid form.</p>
<p>The elemental analysis identified hematite and clay minerals in the ochre powder. The chemical analysis identified several amino acids that were submitted to principal component analysis with more than 100 reference samples. The presence of casein was inferred from the score plot. The question that arose from this initial analysis was: what kind of milk was used? Was it human or animal?</p>
<p>Proteomic (protein) analyses were conducted on the casein and on a set of Sibudu bones from the same layer. The bones were from zebra and from various medium-sized bovids, for example, hartebeest and wildebeest.</p>
<p>Milk may have been obtained by killing a lactating or juvenile bovid. Many wild bovids separate from the herd when giving birth and some, like kudu, hide their young and go off to browse alone. Such animals are easy prey for hunters. Richard Klein concluded that hunters at Klasies <a href="http://archaeology.about.com/cs/humanorigins/a/klasiesriver.htm">River</a> Cave I, southern Cape, targeted giant buffalo in advanced pregnancy or in the process of giving birth. </p>
<p>Such cows would already have milk. Many southern African bovids give birth in early summer, so the use of milk could have seasonal implications. Nevertheless, small bovids like duiker may give birth several times a year making the season of collection uncertain.</p>
<h2>Older than Greek and Egyptian art works</h2>
<p>Casein paint was used for art works about 3000 years ago in Greece and Egypt, but the Sibudu find is much older. The Sibudu liquid paint may have been used as body decoration or for painting on surfaces such as stone or wood.</p>
<p>Body painting is documented in <a href="http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_bushmen.html">San</a> ethnographies and in rock art images. Ian Watts claims that red ochre was used as body paint for rituals from about 100 000 years ago. There are, however, no ethnographic precedents for mixing ochre with milk as a body paint, though modern Himba in Namibia mix ochre with butter as a coloring agent for skin, hair and leather clothing. </p>
<p>Ochre traces inside perforated marine shells from Blombos Cave, Sibudu, Border Cave and North African sites suggest to <a href="http://www.cecd.ucl.ac.uk/people/?go1=63">Marian Vanhaeren</a>and <a href="http://tracsymbols.eu/francesco-derrico">Francesco d’Errico</a> that they may have been worn against painted bodies. An ochre-rich compound blended with marrow fat was found stored in two abalone shells at the site of Blombos (100,000 years ago). </p>
<p><a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/academic/research/evolutionary%20studies%20institute/staff/22761/christopher_henshilwood.html">Christopher Henshilwood</a> and colleagues propose that this product may have been for decoration, but could have been for skin protection. Riaan <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KJn93toAAAAJ&hl=en">Rifkin</a> has shown that ochre can be both an effective sun screen and an insect repellent.</p>
<p>While it is not impossible that Sibudu’s tempera paint was used for body painting, the medium has a tendency to crack on flexible surfaces and is better suited to rigid planes like stone or wood. Rock paintings are known in Europe from about 40,000 years ago, but the earliest known southern African figurative art is dated to approximately 27,000 years ago at <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/apol/hd_apol.htm">Apollo 11</a>, Namibia. </p>
<p>These plaques have not yet been chemically analysed so we do not know how the paint was made. Where chemical studies have been conducted, neither milk nor casein has been documented as media for southern African rock art.</p>
<h2>The why and the how</h2>
<p>Although the use of Sibudu’s tempera paint remains uncertain, the people who made the product may have attributed a special significance and value to it. Whether or not it was obtained in a specific season, the bovid milk would have been an irregular acquisition.</p>
<p>Milk spoils quickly. So, in the absence of refrigeration, tempera paint must be used soon after manufacture. Although speculative, it is tempting to suggest that Sibudu’s tempera was reserved for special tasks that were different from ones making use of other ochre recipes.</p>
<p>Francesco d’Errico has suggested that the production of figurative art may not have a single geographical or cultural origin. The use of tempera paint at Sibudu suggests, further, that there may once have been several cultural traditions involved in the manufacture of colouring agents, just as there were distinct traditions involved in making bone and stone tools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lyn Wadley receives funding from the National Research Foundation.</span></em></p>It may have been a cultural tradition to use tempera paint that contained traces of milk on bodies according to a discovery at Sibudu Caves in KwaZulu Natal.Lyn Wadley, Honorary Professor, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.