Pigments from the Middle Palaeolithic levels of Es-Skhul (Mount Carmel, Israel)

Journal of Archaeological Science

Volumn 37, Issue 12, 2010, Pages 3099-3110

  d'Errico, Francesco ^a,b   Salomon, Hélène ^a,c   Vignaud, Colette ^d   Stringer, Chris ^e  

^a CNRS   (France)

^b UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

^c UNIVERSITY OF LIÈGE   (Belgium)

^d CENTRE DE RECHERCHE ET DE RESTAURATION DES MUSÉES DE FRANCE   (France)

^e DEPARTMENT OF LIFE SCIENCES   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Colour; Middle East; Modern humans; Mousterian; Pyrotechnology.; Symbolism

Indexed keywords

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE; BRECCIA; COLOR; HOMINID; HUMAN BEHAVIOR; PALEOLITHIC; PIGMENT;

HAIFA [ISRAEL]; ISRAEL; MOUNT CARMEL;

EID: 77957232208     PISSN: 03054403     EISSN: 10959238     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.07.011     Document Type: Article

References (105)

1. Adderlay W.P., Alberts I.L., Simpson I.A., Wess T.J. Calcium-iron-phosphate features in archaeological sediments: characterization through microfocus synchrotron X-ray scattering analyses. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2004, 31:1215-1224.
2. Bar-Yosef Mayer D., Vandermeersch B., Bar-Yosef O. Shells and ochre in Middle Paleolithic Qafzeh Cave, Israel: indications for modern behavior. J. Hum. Evol. 2009, 56(3):307-314.
3. Bar-Yosef O., Meignen L. Insights into Levantine Middle Palaeolithic cultural variability. The Middle Paleolithic: Adaptation, Behavior and Variability 1992, 163-182. The University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. H. Dibble, P. Mellars (Eds.).
4. Barham L.S. Possible early pigment use in south-central Africa. Curr. Anthropol. 1998, 39:703-710.
5. Barham L.S. Systematic pigment use in the Middle Pleistocene of south-central Africa. Curr. Anthropol. 2002, 31:181-190.
6. Baturin G.N. Stages of phosphorite formation on the ocean floor. Nature 1971, 232:61-62.
7. Baturin G.N. Phosphorites on the Sea Floor: Origin, Composition, and Distribution 1982, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
8. Beaumont P.B., Vogel J.C. On a timescale for the past million years of human history in central South Africa. S. Afri. J. Sci. 2006, 102:217-228.
9. Berlin B., Kay P. Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution 1969, University of California Press, Berkeley.
10. Boivin N., Owoc M.A. Soils, Stones and Symbols: Cultural Perceptions of the Mineral World 2004, UCL Press, London.
11. Bordes F. Sur l'usage probable de la peinture corporelle dans certaines tribus moustériennes. Bull. Soc. Préhist. Fr. 1952, 49:169-171.
12. Bordes F. A Tale of Two Caves 1972, Harper & Row, New York.
13. Bouzouggar A., Barton N., Vanhaeren M., d'Errico F., Colcutt S., Higham T., Hodge E., Parfitt S., Rhodes E., Schwenninger J.-L., Stringer C.B., Turner E., Ward S., Moutmir A., Stambouli A. 82,000-year-old shell beads from North Africa and implications for the origins of modern human behaviour. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 2007, 104(24):9964-9969.
14. Bowler J.M., Johnstone H., Olley J.M., Prescott J.R., Roberts R.G., Shawcross W., Spooner N. New ages for human occupation and climatic change at Lake Mungo, Australia. Nature 2003, 421:837-840.
15. Calligaro T., Dran J.C., Salomon J., Walter P. Review of accelerator gadgets for art and archaeology. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B. 2004, 226(1-2):29-37.
16. Chalmin E., Menu M., Vignaud C. Analysis of rock art painting and technology of Palaeolithic painters. Meas. Sci. Technol. 2003, 14:1590-1597.
17. Chalmin E., Vignaud C., Menu M. Palaeolithic painting matter: natural or heat-treated pigment. Appl. Phys. A 2004, 79:187-191.
18. Chalmin E., Vignaud C., Salomon H., Farges F., Susini A., Menu M. Minerals discovered in paleolithic black pigments by transmission electron microscopy and micro-X-ray absorption near-edge structure. Appl. Phys. A: Mater. Sci. Process. 2006, 83(2):213-218.
19. Chalmin E., Vignaud C., Farges F., Menu M. Heating effect on manganese oxihydroxides used as black Palaeolithic pigment. Phase Transitions 2008, 81(2-3):179-203.
20. Clark D., Brown K.S. The Twin Rivers Kopje, Zambia: stratigraphy, fauna, and artefact assemblages from the 1954 and 1956 excavations. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2001, 3(3):305-330.
21. Cruz-Uribe K., Klein R.G., Avery G., Avery M., Halkett D., Hart T., Milo R.G., Sampson C.G., Volman T.P. Excavation of buried Late Acheulean (Mid-Quaternary) land surfaces at Duinefontein 2, Western Cape Province, South Africa. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2003, 30:559-575.
22. Demars P.-Y. Les colorants dans le Moustérien du Périgord. L'apport des fouilles de F. Bordes. Bull. Soc. Préhist. Ariégeoise 1992, 47:185-195.
23. d'Errico F., Vanhaeren M., Barton A., Bouzouggar A., Mienis H., Richter D., Hublin J.-J., Shannon P., McPherron S.P., Lozouet P. Additional evidence on the use of personal ornaments in the Middle Paleolithic of North Africa. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 2009, 106(38):16051-16056.
24. d'Errico F., Vanhaeren M., Henshilwood Ch., Lawson G., Maureille B., Gambier D., Tillier A.-M., Soressi M., van Niekerk K. From the origin of language to the diversification of language. What can archaeology and palaeoanthropology say?. Becoming Eloquent. Advances on the Emergence of Language, Human Cognition, and Modern Cultures 2009, 13-68. Benjamins, Amsterdam. F. d'Errico, J.-M. Hombert (Eds.).
25. d'Errico F., Henshilwood C., Lawson G., Vanhaeren M., Tillier A.-M., Soressi M., Bresson F., Maureille B., Nowell A., Lakarra J., Backwell L., Julien M. Archaeological evidence for the emergence of language, symbolism, and music - an alternative multidisciplinary perspective. J. World Prehist. 2003, 17(1):1-70.
26. d'Errico F., Henshilwood C., Vanhaeren M., van Niekerk K. Nassarius kraussianus shell beads from Blombos Cave: evidence for symbolic behaviour in the Middle Stone Age. J. Hum. Evol. 2005, 48:3-24.
27. d'Errico F. The invisible frontier. A multiple species model for the origin of behavioral modernity. Evol. Anthrop. 2003, 12:188-202.
28. de Lumley H. Les fouilles de Terra Amata à Nice (A.-M.). Premiers résultats. Bull. Musée D'Anthr. Préhist. Monaco 1966, 13:29-51.
29. Franquin I., Riboulleau A., Bodineau L., Trivollard N., Tannenbaum E. Préservation de matière organique et condition de dépôt des phosphorites d'Israël (Crétacé supérieur). Les matières organiques en France. Etat de l'art et prospective 2006, 12-17. Université de Lille1, Carqueiranne.
30. Garrod D.A., Bate D.M.A. The Stone Age of Mount Carmel. Volume 1: Excavations at the Wady El-Mughara 1937, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
31. Gibson N.E., Wadley L., Williamson B.S. Microscopic residues as evidence of hafting on backed tools from the 60 000 to 68 000 year-old Howiesons Poort layers of Rose Cottage Cave, South Africa. S. Afr. Humanities 2004, 16:1-11.
32. Godfrey-Smith D.I., Ilani S. Past thermal history of goethite and haematite fragments from Qafzeh Cave deduced from thermal activation characteristics of 110 °C TL peak of enclosed quartz grains. Rev. Archéométrie 2004, 28:185-190.
33. Goldberg P., Nathan Y. The phosphate mineralogy of et-Tabun cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Mineral. Mag. 1975, 40:253-258.
34. Grün R., Stringer C.B., McDermott F., Nathan R., Porat N., Robertson S., Taylor L., Mortimer G., Eggins S., McCulloch M. U-series and ESR analyses of bones and teeth relating to the human burials from Skhul. J. Hum. Evol. 2005, 49:316-334.
35. Helwig K. A note on burnt yellow earth pigments: documentary sources and scientific analysis. Stud. Conserv. 1997, 42:181-188.
36. Henshilwood C.S., Dubreuil B. Reading the artifacts: gleaning language skills from the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa. The Cradle of Language 2009, 41-61. Oxford University Press, Oxford. R. Botha, C. Knight (Eds.).
37. Henshilwood C., d'Errico F., Marean C.W., Milo R.G., Yates R. An early bone tool industry from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa: implications for the origins of modern human behaviour, symbolism and language. J. Hum. Evol. 2001, 41:631-678.
38. Henshilwood C.S., d'Errico F., Watts I. Engraved ochres from the Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 2009, 57(1):27-47.
39. Henshilwood C.S., Marean C.W. The origin of modern human behavior: critique of the models and their test implications. Curr. Anthrop. 2003, 44(5):627-652.
40. Hovers E., Ilani S., Bar-Yosef O., Vandermeersch B. An early case of color symbolism: ochre use by early modern humans in Qafzeh Cave. Curr. Anthrop. 2003, 44(4):491-522.
41. Jacobs Z., Duller G., Wintle A.G., Henshilwood C.S. Extending the chronology of deposits at Blombos Cave, South Africa, back to 140 ka using optical dating of single and multiple grains of quartz. J. Hum. Evol. 2006, 51(3):255-273.
42. Jimenez-Millan J., Molina J.M., Nieto F., Nieto L., Ruiz -Ortiz P.A. Glauconite and phosphate peloids in Mesozoic carbonate sediments (Eastern Subbetic Zone, Betic Cordilleras, SE Spain). Clay Miner. 1998, 33:547-559.
43. Karkanas P., Bar-Yosef O., Goldberg P.S., Weiner S. Diagenesis in prehistoic caves: the use of minerals that form in situ to assess the completeness of the archaeological record. J. Archaeolo. Sci. 2000, 27:915-929.
44. Klein R.G. The Human Career 1999, Chicago University Press, Chicago. second ed.
45. Knight C. Language co-evolved with the rule of law. Mind Soc. 2008, 7:109-128.
46. Knight C., Power C., Watts I. The human symbolic revolution: a Darwinian account. Cambridge Archaeol. J. 1995, 5:75-114.
47. Kuhn S., Stiner M.C. Body ornamentation as information technology: towards an understanding of the significance of early beads. Rethinking the Human Revolution: New Behavioural and Biological and Perspectives on the Origins and Dispersal of Modern Humans 2007, 45-54. McDonald Institute of Archaeology, Cambridge. P. Mellars, K. Boyle, O. Bar-Yosef, C.B. Stringer (Eds.).
48. Kuhn S.L., Stiner M.C. Paleolithic ornaments: implications for cognition, demography and identity. Diogenes 2007, 214:40-48.
49. Leakey L.S. Recent discoveries in Olduvai Gorge, Tanganyika. Nature 1958, 181:1099-1100.
50. Leakey M.D. Olduvai Gorge. Excavations in Beds I and II, 1960-63 1971, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
51. Lombard M. Evidence of hunting and hafting during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal: a multianalytical approach. J. Hum. Evol. 2005, 48:279-300.
52. Lombard M. First impressions of the functions and hafting technology of Still Bay pointed artefacts from Sibudu Cave. S. Afr. Humanities 2006, 18(1):27-41.
53. Lombard M. The gripping nature of ochre: the association of ochre with Howiesons Poort adhesives and Later Stone Age mastics from South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 2007, 53(4):406-419.
54. Lombard M. Finding resolution for the Howiesons Poort through the microscope: micro-residue analysis of segments from Sibudu Cave, South Africa. J. Arch. Sci. 2008, 35(1):26-41.
55. Marean C., Bar-Matthews M., Bernatchez J., Fisher E., Goldberg P., Herries A.I.R., Jacobs Z., Jeradino A., Karkanas P., Minichillo T., Nilssen P.J., Thompson E., Watts I., Williams H.M. Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene. Nature 2007, 449:905-909.
56. Marshack A. On Paleolithic ochre and the early uses of color and symbol. Curr. Anthropol. 1981, 22(2):189-191.
57. Maxwell J.A., Campbell W.J., Teesdale W.J. The Guelph PIXE software package. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B. 1998, 43(2):218-230.
58. McBrearty S. The Middle Pleistocene of East Africa. Human Roots: Africa and Asia in the Middle Pleistocene 2001, 81-98. Western Academic and Specialist Press Ltd., Bristol. L. Barham, K. Robson-Brown (Eds.).
59. McBrearty S., Brooks A. The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior. J. Hum. Evol. 2000, 39:453-563.
60. McBrearty S., Tryon C. From Acheulean to Middle Stone Age in the Kapthurin formation. Transitions Before the Transition. Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age 2006, 257-277. Springer, New York, Kenya. E. Hovers, S.L. Kuhn (Eds.).
61. McCown T.D., Keith A. The Stone Age of Mount Carmel II: The Fossil Human Remains from the Levalloiso-Mousterian 1939, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
62. McDermott F., Grün R., Stringer C.B., Hawkesworth C.J. Mass spectrometric U-series dates for Israeli Neanderthal/early modern hominid sites. Nature 1993, 363:252-255.
63. Mercier N., Valladas H., Bar-Yosef O., Vandermeersch B., Stringer C.B., Joron J.L. Thermoluminescence date for the Mousterian burial site of Es-Skhul, Mt.Carmel. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1993, 20:169-174.
64. O'Connell J.F., Allen J. Dating the colonization of Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea): a review of recent research. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2004, 31(6):835-853.
65. Panczer. 1990. Minéralogie et géochime de l'altération des phosphorites nodulaires du Négev à la discordance Mishash-Ghareb (Israël). PhD dissertation. Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg.
66. Panczer G., Nathanans Y., Yair Shiloni Y. Trace element characterization of phosphate nodules in Israel. Sci. Geol. Bull. 1989, 42(3):173-184.
67. Pomiès M.-P., Menu M., Vignaud C. XRD study of the goethite-haematite transformation: application to the identification of heated prehistoric pigments. Eur. J. Solid State Inorg. Chem. 1998, 35:9-25.
68. Pomiès M.-P., Menu M., Vignaud C. TEM observations of goethite dehydration: application to archaeological samples. J. Europ. Ceram. Soc. 1999, 19:1605-1614.
69. Pomiès M.-P., Menu M., Vignaud C. Red palaeolithic pigments: natural haematite or heated goethite?. Archaeometry 1999, 41:275-285.
70. Power C., Aiello L. Female proto-symbolic strategies. Women in Human Evolution 1997, 153-171. Routledge, London. D.H. Lori (Ed.).
71. Rigaud J.-P., Texier P.-J., Parkington J., Poggenpoel C. Le mobilier Stillbay et Howiesons Poort de l'abri Diepkloof. La chronologie du Middle Stone Age sud-africain et ses implications. Comptes Rendus Palevol 2006, 5(6):839-849.
72. Rink W.J., Bartoll J., Goldberg P., Ronen A. ESR dating of archaeologically relevant authigenic terrestrial apatite veins from Tabun Cave, Israel. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2003, 30:1127-1138.
73. Ronchitelli A., Boscato P., Gambassini P. Gli ultimi neandertaliani in Italia: aspetti culturali. La lunga storia di neandertal. Biologia e comportamento 2009, 257-287. Jaca Book, Milano. F. Facchini, M. Belcastro (Eds.).
74. Salomon, H., 2009. Les matières colorantes au début du Paléolithique supérieur: sources, transformations et fonctions. PhD dissertation. University of Bordeaux.
75. Salomon H., Vignaud C., Coquinot Y., Pagès-Camagna S., Pomiès M.-P., Geneste J.-M., Menu M., Julien M., David F. Les matières colorantes au début du Paléolithique supérieur. Caractérisation chimique et structurale, transformation et valeur symbolique. Techne, Special issue 2008, 17-23.
76. Schwertmann U., Cornell R.M. Iron oxides in the laboratory: Preparation and Characterization 1991, VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, Weinheim.
77. Soressi M., d'Errico F. Pigment, gravures, parures: les comportements symboliques controversés des Néandertaliens. Les Néandertaliens. Biologie et cultures 2007, 297-309. Éditions du CTHS, Paris. B. Vandermeersch, B. Maureille (Eds.).
78. Soressi M., Rendu W., Texier J.-P., Claud E., Daulny L., d'Errico F., Laroulandie V., Maureill B., Niclot M., Tillier A.-M. Pech-de-l'Azé I (Dordogne, France): nouveau regard sur un gisement moustérien de tradition acheuléenne connu depuis le 19ème siècle Pech-de-l'Azé I (Dordogne, France) 2009, Mém. Soc. Préhist. Fr, 47, 95-132.
79. Soriano S., Villa P., Wadley L. Ochre for the toolmaker: shaping the Still Bay points at Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). J. Afr. Archaeol. 2009, 7(1):41-54.
80. Soudry D., Ehrlich S., Yoffe O., Nathan Y. Uranium oxidation state and related variations in geochemistry of phosphorites from the Negev (Southern Israel). Chem. Geol. 2002, 189:213-230.
81. Soudry D., Nathan Y. Microbial infestation: a pathway of fluorine enrichment in bone apatite fragments (Negev phosphorites, Israel). Sediment. Geol. 2000, 132:171-176.
82. Stringer C. Modern human origins - progress and prospects. Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. London (B) 2002, 357:563-579.
83. Stringer C.B., Grün R., Schwarcz H.P., Goldberg P. ESR dates for the hominid burial site of Es Skhul in Israel. Nature 1989, 338:756-758.
84. Šajnerová-Dušková, A., Fridrich, J., Fridrichová-Sykorová, I. Pitted and grinding stones from Middle Palaeolithic settlements in Bohemia: a functional study. In: Sternke, F., Costa, L.J., Eigeland, L. (Eds.), Non-flint Raw Material Use in Prehistory: Old Prejudices and New Directions. Archeopress, Oxford: 145-151.
85. Taçon P. Ochre, clay, stone and art. The symbolic importance of minerals as life force among aboriginal peoples of Northern and Central Australia. Soil, Stones and Symbols: Cultural Perceptions of the Mineral World 2004, 30-42. UCL Press, London. N. Boivin, M.A. Owoc (Eds.).
86. Vanhaeren M., d'Errico F., Stringer C.B., James S.L., Todd J.A., Mienis H.K. Middle Paleolithic shell beads in Israel and Algeria. Science 2006, 312:1785-1788.
87. Varol B. Sedimentary petrography and origin of phosphate peloids of the Mazidag-Derk area (Mardin, Southeast Turkey). Mineral Res. Expl. Bull. 1989, 109:65-73.
88. Vita-Finzi C., Stringer C.B. The setting of the Mt. Carmel caves reassessed. Quat. Sci. Rev. 2007, 26:436-440.
89. van Peer P., Fullagar R., Stokes S., Bailey R.M., Moeyersons J., Steenhoudt F., Geerts A., Vanderbeken T., De Dapper M., Geus F. The Early to Middle Stone Age transition an the emergence of modern human behaviour at site 8-B-11, Sai Island, Sudan. J. Hum. Evol. 2003, 45(2):187-193.
90. van Peer P., Rots V., Vroomans J.-M. A story of colourful diggers and grinders: the Sangoan and Lupemban at site 8-B-11, Sai Island, Northern Sudan. Before Farming 2004, 3:1-28.
91. Wadley L. What is cultural modernity? A general view and a South African perspective from Rose Cottage Cave. Cambridge Archaeol. J. 2001, 1(2):201-221.
92. Wadley L. Ochre crayons or waste products? Replications with MSA 'crayons' from Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Before Farming 2005, 3:1-12.
93. Wadley L. Putting ochre to the test, replication studies of adhesives that may have been used for hafting tools in the Middle Stone Age. J. Hum. Evol. 2005, 46:587-601.
94. Wadley L., Williamson B., Lombard M. Ochre as a hafting material of Middle Stone Age stone tools, the evidence from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Antiquity 2004, 78:661-675.
95. Wadley L., Hodgskiss T., Grant M. Implications for complex cognition from the hafting of tools with compound adhesives in the Middle Stone Age, South Africa. Proc. Nat. Ac. Sci U S A 2009, 106(24):9590-9594.
96. Wadley, L., A taphonomic study of ochre demonstrates post-depositional color transformations. J. Taphonomy., in press.
97. Walter Ph. Caractérisation des traces rouges et noires sur les coquillages perforés de Qafzeh. Echanges et Diffusion dans la Préhistoire méditerranéenne 2003, 122. CTHS, Paris. B. Vandermeersch (Ed.).
98. Watts I. The origin of symbolic culture. The Evolution of Culture 1999, 113-146. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. R. Dunbar, C. Knight, C. Power (Eds.).
99. Watts I. Ochre in the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa: ritualized display or hide preservative?. S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 2002, 57:64-74.
100. Watts I. Red ochre, body painting, and language: interpreting the Blombos ochre. The Cradle of Language 2009, 62-92. Oxford University Press, Oxford. R. Botha, C. Knight (Eds.).
101. Watts, I. The pigments from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, Western Cape, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol., in press.
102. Weinstein-Evron M., Ilani S. Provenance of Ochre in the Natufian layers of El Wad Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1994, 21:461-467.
103. Wreschner E.E. Red ochre and human evolution: a case for discussion. Curr. Anthropol. 1980, 21:631-634.
104. Wurz, S., 2000. The Middle Stone Age at Klasies River. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Stellenbosch.
105. Zilhão J., Angelucci D.E., Badal-García E., d'Errico F., Daniel F., Dayet L., Douka K., Higham T.G., Martínez-Sánchez M.J., Montes-Bernárdez R., Murcia-Mascarós S., Pérez-Sirvent C., Roldán-García C., Vanhaeren M., Villaverde V., Wood R., Zapata J. Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A 2010, 107:1023-1028.