Posted on 06/07/2010 7:09:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A once-thriving 58,000-year-old ochre powder production site has just been discovered in South Africa. The discovery offers a glimpse of what early humans valued and used in their everyday lives... also marks the first time that any Stone Age site has yielded evidence for ochre powder processing on cemented hearths -- an innovation for the period. A clever caveman must have figured out that white ash from hearths can cement and become rock hard, providing a sturdy work surface. "Ochre occurs in a range of colors that includes orange, red, yellow, brown and shades of these colors," project leader Lyn Wadley told Discovery News. "Yellow and brown ochre can be transformed to red by heating them at temperatures as low as 250 degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit)." ...ochre has been found on bone awl tools probably used for working leather, so it is possible that the ancients sported colorful leather clothing and other leather goods... Ochre is derived from naturally tinted clay that contains mineral oxides. In addition to coloring objects, it makes a compound adhesive when mixed with other ingredients, such as plant gum and animal fat... Ochre can also be used as body paint and makeup, as a preservative and as a medicinal component, so it could have served many different functions during the Stone Age... Based on the nature of the cemented ash and the geology of the Sibudu site, d'Errico believes that people 58,000 years ago intended to produce large quantities of red pigment in a short time frame.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
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Bookmarked.
Now you are going to pee off the 8000 year old world crowd.
LOL...was coming to post the same, only 6000 years. ;-)
Vanity thy name is woman, early cosmetics trade?
What was the carbon footprint for this factory?
I’ve got t-shirts to sell, they have a cartoon drawing of the Earth, with facial features, arms, legs, and in the word balloon, “I’m not 4.5 Billion Years Old, I’m 6000 With 4,499,994,000 Years Experience!”
Hmm, probably they screwed up the climate permanently with their shenanigans.
Africa owes us for 58,000 years of this behavior.
Oh sure, lure me into even more peril.
Lipstick was used by prostitutes in ancient times to advertize that they were willing to give the old Presidential Treatment.
Some of the most notorious were found on the island of Lesbos, so until Sappho came along (so to speak), to be a Lesbian meant to, uh, imitate Pan, if you know what I mean.
Euphemisms — they’re not just for breakfast anymore.
Ever read Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Dragon”?
In reflecting on how creative and inspired our ancestors were in crafting tools, utilizing natural resources and making scientific discoveries through creative problem solving.........there is no way we can claim to be *more advanced* than early man.
What phenomenal brain power in such a small population of homo sapiens.
LOL
Hmmm...I always associated the Greek way with the other side. Ah well...live and learn.
Probably had more industry than current day Detroit.
LOL, I don’t think that is historical fact, but do find it funny.
Needed the red to paint a sign advertising the oldest profession . . .
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