First identification of an evolving Middle Stone Age ochre culture at Porc-Epic Cave, Ethiopia

Rosso, Daniela Eugenia; Regert, Martine; d’Errico, Francesco

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-39957-y

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

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A multimethod analysis for tracing Gravettian red ochre provenance at Arene Candide Cave (NW Italy)

Rellini,

Martino,

Cabella

et al. 2024

J Quaternary Science

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Arene Candide Cave, a key site for Western Mediterranean prehistory, is famous for the discovery of the richly adorned Mid–Upper Palaeolithic burial of the ‘Young Prince’ and for its use as a burial site at the end of the Pleistocene (Late Epigravettian). In both contexts, red ochre was a conspicuous element of the burial practices. Unfortunately, few provenance studies and analytical data are available for the pigments recovered in the cave. Likewise, the geographical and geological origins of these colouring materials, which are naturally abundant in the Liguro‐Provençal Arc, have received little to no attention despite their technical and symbolic value. During the 2008–2013 archaeological excavation at Arene Candide Cave, micromorphological samples were collected from the Upper Palaeolithic portion of the 1940s stratigraphic profiles, permitting a first description of site formation processes during the Gravettian. This led to the recognition of a Late Gravettian layer characterized by poorly sorted sediment rich in very small ochre fragments. This study establishes the provenance of these ochre fragments through the combined use of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction. The results reveal a strong correspondence between the Arene Candide ochres and local ore sites, which were never considered before as potential sources. The mineralogical composition of the samples, characterized by the presence of barium sulphate and iron oxides, indicates that the Finalese area (NW Liguria) in which the site is located was the most likely source of the colouring pigments used by the Upper Palaeolithic hunter‐gatherers of the Arene Candide Cave.

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A multimethod analysis for tracing Gravettian red ochre provenance at Arene Candide Cave (NW Italy)

Rellini,

Martino,

Cabella

et al. 2024

J Quaternary Science

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The Upper Pleistocene (late Pleistocene) archaeology of sub-Saharan Africa (MSA and LSA)

Wurz

2025

Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science

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Ochre communities of practice in Stone Age Eswatini

MacDonald,

Velliky,

Forrester

et al. 2024

Nat Commun

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Our species and other hominins have used earth mineral pigments since at least ~500,000 years ago, if not earlier. Its preservation and ubiquity within archaeological records across sub-Saharan Africa are well documented, but regional-scale networks of mineral selection, mining, transport, and use is an underdeveloped field. Here, we present a framework for interpreting regional variations within an overarching ochre-behavioral community of practice. Deep-time records of ochre provisioning span the final Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age in modern day Eswatini, revealing longstanding cultural continuities in the intergenerational transmission of shared knowledge on landscapes, geology, and the desired physicochemical properties of mineral pigments. These communities of practice did not develop in isolation, and were part of a wider system of relations that were influenced and mediated by social interactions, such as technological learning, seasonal traveling, material culture exchange, and symbolic expression. We use compositional analyses to determine localized ochre procurement strategies and long-distance transport across a network of fifteen archaeological sites and mineral resources. Newly refined chronologies from Lion Cavern at Ngwenya using optically stimulated luminescence dating also reaffirm its antiquity as the oldest known evidence for intensive ochre mining worldwide (~48,000 years ago).Identifying evidence for long distance mobility and social interactions is at the forefront of archaeological research in the Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age (MSA/LSA) of sub-Saharan Africa 1-5 . The analysis of earth mineral pigments, or ochres, has played a role in interpretations of cognitive behaviors 6,7 , is linked to rock art and symbolic expressions 8 , and is associated with tool hafting adhesives 9,10 , bedding 11 , and several examples of compositional analysis and provenance [12][13][14][15][16][17] . But, it has rarely been conceptualized in a framework that advances identifying ochre communities of practice [18][19][20][21] . Lave and Wenger first introduced the concepts of communities of practice and situated learning to describe how shared knowledge and traditions emerge within, and are reinforced and communicated across, social

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First identification of an evolving Middle Stone Age ochre culture at Porc-Epic Cave, Ethiopia

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

A multimethod analysis for tracing Gravettian red ochre provenance at Arene Candide Cave (NW Italy)

A multimethod analysis for tracing Gravettian red ochre provenance at Arene Candide Cave (NW Italy)

The Upper Pleistocene (late Pleistocene) archaeology of sub-Saharan Africa (MSA and LSA)

Ochre communities of practice in Stone Age Eswatini

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