ALBERT

Description: The manufacture of geometric engravings is generally interpreted as indicative of modern cognition and behaviour. Key questions in the debate on the origin of such behaviour are whether this innovation is restricted to Homo sapiens, and whether it has a uniquely African origin. Here we report on a fossil freshwater shell assemblage from the Hauptknochenschicht ('main bone layer') of Trinil (Java, Indonesia), the type locality of Homo erectus discovered by Eugene Dubois in 1891 (refs 2 and 3). In the Dubois collection (in the Naturalis museum, Leiden, The Netherlands) we found evidence for freshwater shellfish consumption by hominins, one unambiguous shell tool, and a shell with a geometric engraving. We dated sediment contained in the shells with (40)Ar/(39)Ar and luminescence dating methods, obtaining a maximum age of 0.54 +/- 0.10 million years and a minimum age of 0.43 +/- 0.05 million years. This implies that the Trinil Hauptknochenschicht is younger than previously estimated. Together, our data indicate that the engraving was made by Homo erectus, and that it is considerably older than the oldest geometric engravings described so far. Although it is at present not possible to assess the function or meaning of the engraved shell, this discovery suggests that engraving abstract patterns was in the realm of Asian Homo erectus cognition and neuromotor control.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Joordens, Josephine C A -- d'Errico, Francesco -- Wesselingh, Frank P -- Munro, Stephen -- de Vos, John -- Wallinga, Jakob -- Ankjaergaard, Christina -- Reimann, Tony -- Wijbrans, Jan R -- Kuiper, Klaudia F -- Mucher, Herman J -- Coqueugniot, Helene -- Prie, Vincent -- Joosten, Ineke -- van Os, Bertil -- Schulp, Anne S -- Panuel, Michel -- van der Haas, Victoria -- Lustenhouwer, Wim -- Reijmer, John J G -- Roebroeks, Wil -- England -- Nature. 2015 Feb 12;518(7538):228-31. doi: 10.1038/nature13962. Epub 2014 Dec 3.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, PO Box 9515, 2300RA, Leiden, The Netherlands [2] Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ; 1] Universite de Bordeaux, CNRS UMR 5199, Allee Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France [2] Institute of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Oysteinsgate 3PO Box 7805, Bergen, Norway. ; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, PO Box 9517, 2300RA, Leiden, The Netherlands. ; 1] School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Australian Capital Territory, 0200 Canberra, Australia [2] National Museum of Australia, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Canberra, Australia. ; 1] Wageningen University, Soil Geography and Landscape Group &Netherlands Centre for Luminescence Dating, PO Box 47, 6700AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands [2] Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Mekelweg 15, 2629JB, Delft, The Netherlands. ; Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ; 1] Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, PO Box 9515, 2300RA, Leiden, The Netherlands [2] Prinses Beatrixsingel 21, 6301VK, Valkenburg, The Netherlands. ; Universite de Bordeaux, CNRS UMR 5199, Allee Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France. ; 1] Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, UMR 7205, Institut de Systematique, Evolution, Biodiversite, CP51, 55 Rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France [2] Biotope Recherche et Developpement, 22 Boulevard Marechal Foch, 34140 Meze, France. ; Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, PO Box 1600, 3800BP, Amersfoort, The Netherlands. ; 1] Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [2] Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, PO Box 9517, 2300RA, Leiden, The Netherlands [3] Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, De Bosquetplein 7, 6211KJ, Maastricht, The Netherlands. ; 1] Faculte de Medecine, Universite d'Aix-Marseille, EFS, CNRS UMR 7268, Boulevard Pierre Dramard, 13344 Marseille, France [2] Department of Medical Imaging Hopital Nord, Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Marseille, Chemin de Bourrellys, 13915 Marseille, France. ; Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, PO Box 9515, 2300RA, Leiden, The Netherlands.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25470048" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neandertals is well documented in Europe, especially for the period 60–40 kya. Such finds often have been interpreted as pigments even though their exact function is largely unknown. Here we report significantly older iron oxide finds that constitute the earliest documented use of red ochre by Neandertals. These finds were small concentrates of red material retrieved during excavations at Maastricht-Belvédère, The Netherlands. The excavations exposed a series of well-preserved flint artifact (and occasionally bone) scatters, formed in a river valley setting during a late Middle Pleistocene full interglacial period. Samples of the reddish material were submitted to various forms of analyses to study their physical properties. All analyses identified the red material as hematite. This is a nonlocal material that was imported to the site, possibly over dozens of kilometers. Identification of the Maastricht-Belvédère finds as hematite pushes the use of red ochre by (early) Neandertals back in time significantly, to minimally 200–250 kya (i.e., to the same time range as the early ochre use in the African record).