Manganese dioxide was one of the earliest natural substances used by human ancestors. It was used as a pigment at least from the middle paleolithic. It was possibly used first for body painting, and later for cave painting. Some of the most famous early cave paintings in Europe were executed by means of manganese dioxide.
“Oog, you know that colored powder you’ve been using to paint the walls with those cute animals for your daughter’s niche and for body paint? Well, I’ve been trying to make batteries with it to light this dump, but no use.
However, some spilled on the firewood and it caught fire right away. By using the scientic method, I was able to replicate the results every time. Do you realize what this means?
“Oog catch fire from body paint?”
MORAL: sometimes a mysterious powder found in the remains of a fire is just a spill.
Hmmm. A lot of discussion about manganese around here lately:
Light and manganese to discover the source of submerged Roman marble
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3398083/posts