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08
Colourful beginnings
Symbolism evidence unearthed by Archaeologist
ASenior Lecturer in Archaeology has
found evidence from Africa that
colours were being used in a symbolic,
rather than purely functional, way perhaps
300,000 years ago, considerably earlier than
previously thought.
Dr Lawrence Barham has been studying
tools and other artefacts left by ancient
humans at a site in Zambia. He discovered
that the range of mineral pigments, or ochres,
found there hints at the use of paint, perhaps
to mark the body.
If correct, it would push back the earliest
known example of abstract thinking by at least
100,000 years. Being able to conceptualise
- the ability to let one thing represent another
- was a giant leap in human evolution.
Larry said: “As an archaeologist I am
interested to find out where colour symbolism
first appears because for colour symbolism
to work it must be based on language.
Evolutionary psychologists tell us that the
neural capacity for language existed 500,000
years ago, so we should expect some
evidence to appear about this time, which is
before the evolution of our own species.”
His work over the past 10 years has been
based in Zambia where evidence of pigment
Newsinbrief...
use has been found at a site known as Twin
Rivers, an old cave complex occupied by
humans some 170,000-300,000 years ago.
The tools found at Twin Rivers show
evidence of increasing sophistication with
handheld tools replaced by small blades and
flakes that had to be attached to handles.
The emergence of this ‘composite’ technology
coincided with the systematic use of ochres.
Ochre is a soft stone that contains iron
oxides and it comes in a range of colours; at
Twin Rivers there are red, yellow, brown, pink,
black and even purple.
Larry continued: “If they are scraped, they
will produce a powder which can be mixed
with animal fat, for example, and used as
a paint, and I think that ancient humans in
Zambia wiped these pigments on their bodies,
using them in rituals - just as paints are still
used in some cultures today, to mark the
passage of warrior to elder, or the coming of
age of boys and girls.”
A number of claims have previously been
made for conceptual thinking in humans
hundreds of thousands of years ago. Many
of these claims relate to pieces of rock that
are said to represent the human form. The
Berekhat Ram figure from Israel and the Tan-
Spare
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ABOVE: Ochre used as paint
TOP: Lupemban tools
Tan figure from Morocco, for example, have
been presented as the work of Homo erectus.
However, many sceptical researchers believe
these items are merely accidents of nature,
objects that have been moulded into human
form through chance geological processes.
Larry knows he has some way to
go to convince colleagues of his case.
“Archaeologists are a very cautious group.
We set high standards for accepting an
interpretation based on symbolism.”
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