Engraved Ochre and Its Interpretation
The Blombos Cave people engraved pieces of ochre are regarded as the oldest known artwork but very much simpler than the cave paintings and figurines found in Europe after 40,000 BP.
The date of engraved ochre is now firmly established. The use of abstract symbolism on the engraved pieces of ochre and the presence of a complex tool kit suggests Middle Stone Age people were behaving in a cognitively modern way and had the advantages of syntactical language at least 80,000 years ago.
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