Data Overview

While the majority of scholars have argued that modern human thought ar-rived either with the evolution of anatomically modern humans (McBrearty and Brooks 2000; Shea 2011) or after (Mellars 2005; Tattersall 2008), one of the first questions we asked was if there were data supporting a working hy-pothesis that these behaviors are actually older than either of these answers allow. Indeed, as the record for complex thought and human-like behavior in Neandertals grows stronger (Zilhão et al. 2010; Peresani et al. 2011), it seems likely that the answer to this question is yes. Below is a short sum-mary of these data.

The use of bone technology⁴ has often been included in the suite of fea-tures demarcating the Upper Paleolithic Revolution, but recent work has shown a more complex picture (Henshilwood et al. 2001; Backwell, d’Errico, and Wadley 2008). The earliest recorded bone tool technology in the da-tabase comes from the site of Broken Hill (also known as Kabwe), central Zambia, dating to older than 300,000 years ago. Using modern taphonomic standards, Lawrence Barham and his colleagues show three artifacts that are intentionally shaped tools, dating from 700–300 kya (Barham, Pinto Llona, and Stringer 2002). Another example of non-lithic tool use comes from the wooden spears from Clacton (Allington-Jones 2015) and Schö-ningen (Thieme 1997), the former of which dates to around 400 kya and the latter to, most likely, 300 kya (Kuitems et al. 2015).

The second oldest artifact type in the database are materials that are pur-posefully engraved such as ochre, ostrich eggshell, and osteological remains.

4 It may not require too much of a cognitive leap to apply methods of producing chipped stone tools to the bone fragments left over from a meal, but this has not been tested yet.

Figure 2. Map of the location of all of the sites in the database of Pleistocene ‘symbolic’ activity.

Much work has centered on what, if anything, these markings mean and whether archaeologists can infer symbolic thought from these artifacts.

Some argue the engraved ochre pieces from Blombos Cave are fully sym-bolic and should not be viewed as idiosyncratic behavior but rather inform on the symbolic aptitudes of MSA humans (Henshilwood and Dubreuil 2009). Others question whether these are fully symbolic signs (Malafouris 2008; Hodgson 2014).

Interestingly, the earliest engraved objects found in our analysis not only predate H. sapiens but are found outside of Africa at the site of Trinil in Java (type site of H. erectus), where Josephine Joordens and colleagues report on an engraved geometric pattern on a Pseudodon bivalve (clam-like animal) shell (Joordens et al. 2014). Other examples, such as an engraved stone from Tata, Hungary (Marshack 1976), are more recent (~100 kya) but are outside of the core region proposed for modern human origins. One of the most controversial finds comes from the site of Middle Pleistocene site Bilzing-sleben, Germany, where half a dozen bone fragments have been reported as having engravings at 370–230 kya (Bednarik 1995; Mania and Mania 2005). However, there has not been much published on the bones and some archaeologists have questioned the taphonomic aspects of the faunal mate-rial (Davidson 1990), making us reticent to include it until a more detailed analysis is completed.

The production of blades – stone tools that are at least twice as long as they are wide – has been used as a sign of modern cognition. Blades have been discovered at two sites in the Kapthurin Formation in Kenya, between 545–509 kya (Johnson and McBrearty 2010) and are reported from the site of Kathu Pan 1, South Africa, which dates to approximately 500 kya (Wilkins and Chazan 2012). Interestingly, this site has provided evidence of the earliest stone tool projectile points as well (Wilkins et al. 2012). Many archaeologists would be skeptical that stone tools can be indicators of mo-dernity. Yet, for a long time blades were seen as markers of complex, cogni-tive thought (Joris et al. 2011). Furthermore, archaeologists are perhaps too quick to deny symbolic aspects to lithic technologies (Sterelny and Hiscock 2014).

Beads are often seen as indicating the need to demonstrate group identity, though this has never been shown to be a prerequisite for body adornment.

Seeing beads as evidence of symbolic thought has much support (Kuhn et al. 2001; Vanhaeren and d’Errico 2005, 2006) but has not gone unquestioned (Wynn and Coolidge 2011). Usually, it is argued the earliest beads are found in South Africa (d’Errico et al. 2005), Southwest Asia (Bar-Yosef Mayer, Vandermeersch, and Bar-Yosef 2009), or Northern Africa (Bouzouggar et

al. 2007) and are associated with modern humans around 100,000 years ago.

However, Bednarik reports on a study of over 300 shells from archaeologi-cal contexts, most of which come from Acheulian sites dating to older than 300 kya (Bednarik 2005). Wear facets indicate the shells were strung on a string or faced abrasive wear as they rubbed against each other, suggesting their use as beads.

The evidence for the earliest figurines is also provocative. The Berekhat Ram (470–230 kya, Israel) and Tan-Tan (500–300 kya, Morocco) artifacts fit the description of what may be called an iconic sign type. Most scholars accept these as legitimate (d’Errico and Nowell 2001), but debate revolves on if they are truly symbolic artifacts or not. Other examples, even older, are more equivocal and need to be restudied and analyzed with modern tech-niques, such as the Makapansgat Pebble, which may be three million years old and seems to have been purposefully collected by hominins due to its anthropomorphic features (Bednarik 1998).

While it is unclear if ochre⁵ use is strictly non-utilitarian (Watts 2002;

Hodgskiss 2014), the collection of ochre suggests an expansion in the human

5 Ochre is a mineral usually formed as a type of rock that can be used as a pigment and adhesive.

Figure 3. Chart of the first appearance date of symbolic behaviors.

700 kya 600 kya 500 kya 400 kya 300 kya 200 kya 100 kya

Earliest bone technology Earliest engraved lines Earliest blades

Earliest figurative art Earliest wood weapons Earliest beads

Earliest ochre use AHM

cultural repertoire. Ian Watts argues that ochre in the MSA demonstrates ritual display, perhaps during menarcheal initiation, but it does not require symbolism until the habitual use of the pigment is recorded (Watts 2002).

Others have suggested the color red is a biological signal indicating strength and high-testosterone levels (Hill and Barton 2005; Wiedemann et al. 2015).

This may explain why early humans heat-treated ochre to change its color from yellow to red, a process that seems to have been performed by human groups at Qafzeh, between 118,000 to 75,000 years ago (Godfrey-Smith and Ilani 2004), and at Skhul, which dates to 135,000 to 100,000 years ago (d’Errico et al. 2010), both of which are cave sites located in modern day Israel. The cognitive implications of heat treatment suggest that planning and a sort of mental algorithm would have to be involved. The database also records ochre use as older than 200 kya at Twin Rivers, Zambia (Clark and Brown 2001), Sai Island, Sudan (Peer, Rots, and Vroomans 2004), and Maastricht-Belvédère, Netherlands (Roebroeks et al. 2012), spanning conti-nents and, perhaps, species.