When was blombos cave discovered

This is what we would expect to find in a society with a symbolic system embedded in different categories of artefacts. This may indicate that comparable signs were produced in different contexts, possibly for different purposes.

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. 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?

The drawing was made by Homo sapiens — people like us, who were our ancient direct ancestors. They were hunter-gatherers who lived in groups of between 20 and 40 people. The discovery adds to our existing understanding of Homo sapiens in Africa. They were behaviourally modern: they behaved essentially like us.

Some critics have argued", Yellen continues, "that the earlier Blombos artifacts, and similar finds at other recently excavated African sites, did not represent true symbol use. These newly found beads considerably strengthen Henshilwood's assertion that 'modern' behavior begins in Africa. According to Henshilwood, "Agreement is widespread that personal ornaments, such as beads, incontrovertibly represent symbolically mediated modern behaviour. Until now, the oldest beads in Africa date to about 45, years.

The discovery of 41 shell beads in sand layers at Blombos Cave accurately dated as 75, year old provides important new evidence for early symbolically organized behaviour in Africa. The artifact-rich layers are clearly separated by a layer of dune sand deposited about 70, years ago.

While LSA strata, which are less than years old, also contain Nassarius shells, they are a different color from those in the MSA strata. Sand grains surrounding the MSA artifacts, dated by optically stimulated luminescence, show they were buried—removed from sunlight, which "resets" the dating clock—75, years ago. Burnt lithics, or stone, found nearby in the same strata, were independently dated by thermoluminescent techniques as 77, years old. Thousands of individual grains of sand were dated to search for signs of mixing between the Middle and Later Stone Age layers; none was detected.

However, the recent dating of the Sulawesi Cave art Indonesia to 37, BCE, does support the idea that "modern man" acquired his artistic capability before leaving Africa, rather than during his journey, or after reaching his final destination. Note: For a comparison with later African art, please see the animal paintings on the Apollo 11 Cave Stones c.

The only controversy concerning the discovery of this Late Pleistocene abstract art at Blombos cave, is whether the artifacts represent true art. Several archaeologists, at least to begin with, were reportedly hesitant to accept this proposition.

One can dismiss this objection quite simply by pointing to the thousands of examples of cupule art, found throughout the world as far back as the Lower Paleolithic era. No archeologist has yet claimed to "understand" or "evaluate" the artistic nature or cultural significance of this ancient art , yet there seems no doubt that it represents a very early type of creative behaviour.

All rights reserved. Blombos Cave Rock Art 70, BCE Prehistoric Engravings with Crosshatch Patterns Home to some of the earliest known prehistoric art in all of Africa, the archeological site known as Blombos Cave is located in a limestone cliff, some metres from the sea on the coast of South Africa, about miles east of Cape Town.

Keene for assistance in the Cape Town laboratory, I. Svahn for assistance with electron microscopy in Bordeaux, G. Devilder for his input on Fig. Haaland for his stratigraphy image on Fig. Nature thanks J. Joordens, G. Christopher S. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar.

Correspondence to Christopher S. The lines consist mainly of fine-grained iron oxide Fe , that were applied to the surface, as no haematite occur naturally in the silcrete raw material of L In the subpanels of A , images in a , b show lines 2 and 3; c , d show lines 5, 8 and 9; and e , f show lines 6 and 9 and red spots on a flake scar.

The white rectangles in a , c and e indicate the areas that are enlarged in subpanels b , d and f , respectively. Notice the white appearance of the lines in the back-scattered electrons SEM—EDS images due to the presence of iron rich deposits.

Subpanels a — c show line 2; d — f show line 5. White squares indicate areas that are enlarged in the image with the corresponding letter.

C , Raman analysis of line 4. Subpanel a shows a photograph with the location of the analysed area white rectangle. Subpanel b shows the analysed spots and identified minerals.

Subpanel c shows Raman spectra and micrographs of the analysed areas with peaks identifying haematite red numbers and quartz black numbers. The microresidues on the smoothed silcrete surface outside of the lines differ in Fe content from the red lines, which—along with the presence of microstriations—supports the theory that the silcrete flake was part of an ochre grindstone before the drawing was made.

A , Photographs and micrographs of the lines drawn on L Black squares in subpanels a , c , e indicate the areas enlarged in the adjacent subpanels b , d , f. Red residues are clearly visible on the matrix and on quartz grains. In subpanels a , c , d , black and white squares indicate the areas enlarged in the adjacent photograph. In subpanels e , f , the analysed spots black squares and circles identify the presence of isolated iron-rich particles on the surface of the matrix and the quartz grains.

C , Raman analysis of microresidues preserved in quartz grain pits. Subpanel b shows analysed spots white squares and identified minerals. Subpanel c shows Raman spectra and micrographs of the analysed areas, with peaks identifying haematite red numbers and quartz black numbers. The area shown in subpanel b of panel C is the same as the area shown in subpanel b of panel B. A , Micrographs of experimentally painted lines before and after rinsing. Subpanels a — c show lines produced by applying a liquid a , viscous b and very viscous c paint with a thin wooden brush on a silcrete surface.

Subpanels d — f show the three-dimensional rendering of the same lines showing the surface topography. Subpanels g — i show the same lines after gently rinsing the surface of the silcrete under running tap water. B , Lines produced experimentally on a silcrete flake with an ochre crayon. Subpanel a shows a single-stroke line drawn from the top to the bottom. Subpanels b , c show close-up views and three-dimensional renderings subpanels d , e of selected areas of subpanel a.

Subpanels h , i show a photograph h and three-dimensional rendering i of a single-stroke line produced from the top to the bottom after gently rinsing the silcrete flake under running tap water. Subpanels f , g and j are depth maps and sections of b , c and a selected area of h , respectively.

The locations of the sections are indicated on the depth maps by white bars. White arrows indicate deposits of powdery ochre preserved in recesses, and larger yellow arrows indicate prominent areas with compacted ochre deposits covered by striations. Compacted patches of ochre covered by striations and small deposits of ochre powder in recesses are preserved after the rinsing; these features and lines are similar to those on L13 Fig. These images show that, as it is difficult to exactly superimpose a new line on a previous one, superimposing a line on a previous line generally results in a wider line.

Unidirectional, superimposed lines retain the same features observed on a single-stroke line. Multiple lines produced by a to-and-fro movement of the ochre edge show microscopic evidence that the crayon was moved in both directions. The lines in this figure were not rinsed with water.

The morphology of lines will depend on the properties and composition of the ochre, the roughness of the silcrete surface, the pressure exerted and the morphology of the ochre area in contact with the silcrete. In general, soft, plastic, clayish ochre will produce thicker and more continuous lines than silty or sand-rich ochre.