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posted by CoolHand on Saturday May 27 2017, @07:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the knowing-where-the-parties-are dept.

45,000 years ago, in an area that is now part of Ethiopia, humans found a roomy cave at the base of a limestone cliff and turned it into a special kind of workshop. Inside, they built up a cache of over 40 kilograms of reddish stones high in iron oxide. Using a variety of tools, they ground the stones into different colored powders: deep reds, glowing yellows, rose grays. Then they treated the powder by heating it or mixing it with other ingredients to create the world's first paint. For at least 4,500 years, people returned to this cave, known today as Porc-Epic, covering its walls in symbols and inking their bodies and clothes. Some anthropologists call it the first artist's workshop.

Now, a new study in PLoS One suggests that the cave offers us a new way to understand cultural continuity in the Middle Stone Age, when humans were first becoming sophisticated toolmakers and artisans. Paleoscientists Daniela Eugenia Rosso, Francesco d'Errico, and Alain Queffelec have sorted through the 4,213 pieces of ochre found in the cave, analyzing the layers of history they represent. They argue that Porc-Epic is a rare continuous record of how humans pass on knowledge and rituals across dozens of generations.

4,500 years is a long time for continuous use of a single site.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:48PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:48PM (#516526)

    Soylent"News" will be lucky to last 4.5 years.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @11:29PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @11:29PM (#516558)

    Glory to Apophis! Pray for the destruction of SoylentNews!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 28 2017, @02:12AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 28 2017, @02:12AM (#516589)

      Every day I pray for the death of soylentnews.