Emergence of Modern Human Behavior: Middle Stone Age Engravings from South Africa-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Emergence of Modern Human Behavior: Middle Stone Age Engravings from South Africa

Published:2002-02-15 Issue:5558 Volume:295 Page:1278-1280
ISSN:0036-8075
Container-title:Science
language:en
Short-container-title:Science

Author:

Henshilwood Christopher S.¹²³,d'Errico Francesco⁴,Yates Royden¹,Jacobs Zenobia⁵,Tribolo Chantal⁶,Duller Geoff A. T.⁵,Mercier Norbert⁶,Sealy Judith C.⁷,Valladas Helene⁶,Watts Ian¹⁷,Wintle Ann G.⁵

Affiliation:

1. Iziko Museums of Cape Town, South African Museum, Post Office Box 61, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa.

2. Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA.

3. Centre for Development Studies, University of Bergen, Strømgaten, 54, 5007 Bergen, Norway.

4. Institut de Préhistoire et de Géologie du Quaternaire, UMR 5808 du CNRS, Avenue des Facultés, 33405, Talence, France.

5. Luminescence Dating Laboratory, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DB, UK.

6. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR CEA-CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France.

7. Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa.

Abstract

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.

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Reference36 articles.

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