Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Originally published in Science Express on 10 January 2002
Science 15 February 2002:
Vol. 295. no. 5558, pp. 1278 - 1280
DOI: 10.1126/science.1067575
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

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

Christopher S. Henshilwood,123* Francesco d'Errico,4 Royden Yates,1 Zenobia Jacobs,5 Chantal Tribolo,6 Geoff A. T. Duller,5 Norbert Mercier,6 Judith C. Sealy,7 Helene Valladas,6 Ian Watts,17 Ann G. Wintle5

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.

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.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: chenshilwood{at}iziko.org.za

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Population Differentiation as an Indicator of Recent Positive Selection in Humans: An Empirical Evaluation.
Y. Xue, X. Zhang, N. Huang, A. Daly, C. J. Gillson, D. G. MacArthur, B. Yngvadottir, A. C. Nica, C. Woodwark, Y. Chen, et al. (2009)
Genetics 183, 1065-1077
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Out of Africa: Modern Human Origins Special Feature: Additional evidence on the use of personal ornaments in the Middle Paleolithic of North Africa.
F. d'Errico, M. Vanhaeren, N. Barton, A. Bouzouggar, H. Mienis, D. Richter, J.-J. Hublin, S. P. McPherron, and P. Lozouet (2009)
PNAS 106, 16051-16056
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Plea For Cost-Effectiveness, or at Least Avoiding Public Health Malpractice.
L. F. Roberts (2009)
Am J Public Health 99, 1546-1548
   Full Text »    PDF »
Characterizing the Time Dependency of Human Mitochondrial DNA Mutation Rate Estimates.
B. M. Henn, C. R. Gignoux, M. W. Feldman, and J. L. Mountain (2009)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 26, 217-230
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ages for the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa: Implications for Human Behavior and Dispersal.
Z. Jacobs, R. G. Roberts, R. F. Galbraith, H. J. Deacon, R. Grun, A. Mackay, P. Mitchell, R. Vogelsang, and L. Wadley (2008)
Science 322, 733-735
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Population Genetic Analysis of the N-Acylsphingosine Amidohydrolase Gene Associated With Mental Activity in Humans.
H. L. Kim and Y. Satta (2008)
Genetics 178, 1505-1515
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Did farming arise from a misapplication of social intelligence?.
S. Mithen (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 705-718
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Going east: new genetic and archaeological perspectives on the modern human colonization of Eurasia..
P. Mellars (2006)
Science 313, 796-800
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Inaugural Article: The Ysterfontein 1 Middle Stone Age site, South Africa, and early human exploitation of coastal resources.
R. G. Klein, G. Avery, K. Cruz-Uribe, D. Halkett, J. E. Parkington, T. Steele, T. P. Volman, and R. Yates (2004)
PNAS 101, 5708-5715
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Middle Stone Age Shell Beads from South Africa.
C. Henshilwood, F. d'Errico, M. Vanhaeren, K. van Niekerk, and Z. Jacobs (2004)
Science 304, 404
   Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)