PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Henshilwood, Christopher S.
AU  - d’Errico, Francesco
AU  - van Niekerk, Karen L.
AU  - Coquinot, Yvan
AU  - Jacobs, Zenobia
AU  - Lauritzen, Stein-Erik
AU  - Menu, Michel
AU  - García-Moreno, Renata
TI  - A 100,000-Year-Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa
AID  - 10.1126/science.1211535
DP  - 2011 Oct 14
TA  - Science
PG  - 219--222
VI  - 334
IP  - 6053
4099  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/334/6053/219.short
4100  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/334/6053/219.full
SO  - Science2011 Oct 14; 334
AB  - The conceptual ability to source, combine, and store substances that enhance technology or social practices represents a benchmark in the evolution of complex human cognition. Excavations in 2008 at Blombos Cave, South Africa, revealed a processing workshop where a liquefied ochre-rich mixture was produced and stored in two Haliotis midae (abalone) shells 100,000 years ago. Ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones, and hammerstones form a composite part of this production toolkit. The application of the mixture is unknown, but possibilities include decoration and skin protection.