Publication Date:
2002-01-12
Description:
In the Eurasian Upper Paleolithic after about 35,000 years ago, abstract or depictional images provide evidence for cognitive abilities considered integral to modern human behavior. Here we report on two abstract representations engraved on pieces of red ochre recovered from the Middle Stone Age layers at Blombos Cave in South Africa. A mean date of 77,000 years was obtained for the layers containing the engraved ochres by thermoluminescence dating of burnt lithics, and the stratigraphic integrity was confirmed by an optically stimulated luminescence age of 70,000 years on an overlying dune. These engravings support the emergence of modern human behavior in Africa at least 35,000 years before the start of the Upper Paleolithic.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Henshilwood, Christopher S -- d'Errico, Francesco -- Yates, Royden -- Jacobs, Zenobia -- Tribolo, Chantal -- Duller, Geoff A T -- Mercier, Norbert -- Sealy, Judith C -- Valladas, Helene -- Watts, Ian -- Wintle, Ann G -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2002 Feb 15;295(5558):1278-80. Epub 2002 Jan 10.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Iziko Museums of Cape Town, South African Museum, Post Office Box 61, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa. chenshilwood@iziko.org.za〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11786608" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
*Aluminum Silicates
;
Animals
;
*Archaeology
;
*Behavior
;
Cognition
;
*Engraving and Engravings
;
*Geologic Sediments
;
*Hominidae
;
Humans
;
South Africa
;
Time
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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