Unveiling a window into humankind’s pre-historic past. This is what the finds from an archaeological dig from Stone Age times have revealed.
Blombos Cave, on the Southern Cape coast of South Africa, one of the world’s most significant archaeological sites, holds keys to reshaping our understanding of early human behaviour.
It has yielded ‘Remarkable insights into the cognitive development of early humans via the oldest know abstract artwork, a piece of ochre with abstract patterns engraved on it, hashtag style, dated about 87K ybp (years before present).’ (Webb,2019). This predates similar evidence of artistic creativity in Europe by about 40k years.
The palaeo-anthropologist team under Professor Christopher Henshilwood also found the oldest bone tools in Africa, beads made from pierced seashells, and the ‘first chemistry kit’ – 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, which proves that our early ancestors could also make paint.
These achievements represent very early examples of human ingenuity and suggest cognitive ability including notions of abstract thought, analogical reasoning, multi-tasking and the ability to think outside the box. Additionally the development of abstract art is also an important stepping stone in the evolution of another creative trait, language.
These significant finds are displayed at Origins Centre in Johannesburg, a museum that explores the origins of art and humanity in Africa, San heritage, and rock art, as well as at the De Hoop Collection.
For more on this seminal cave and humanity’s long evolutionary path, read ANCIENT FOOTPRINTS / Blombos Cave and the birth of human intelligence, and Blombos Cave artefact thought to be the earlist evidence of human drawing.
Acknowledgement: Origins of Symbolism in Art – The Legacy of the San and their Ancestors, by Ruud Lapré & Mike Bruton, published by the Lapré Foundation for the Promotopn of Art (2024). www.collectiebeheerlapre.nl