Two pieces of animal bones with ochre engraving, found in central China, are the latest evidence that members of the human family used the material to express abstract ideas much earlier than once believed — and much further from Africa.
Researchers studying the find call it the oldest such example of the symbolic use of ochre. At more than 100,000 years old, the discovery raises another challenge to the conventional model of human evolution.
Aside from fossils, ochre is perhaps the most important material for revealing the story of human evolution, including how and when our cognitive abilities emerged.
The iron-rich rocks known as ochre turn up around the world and frequently at archaeological sites, including in prehistoric paint kits and ritual burials. Today, ochre remains an important pigment for ritual use — and for more practical applications, such as sunscreen — in much of the world.
