Abstract geometric engraving on ochre
Grabado geométrico abstracto sobre ocre
- Date
- c. 75 ka · confidence high
- Place
- Blombos Cave, Western Cape, South Africa
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens
- Field
- Communication
What it is
Blocks of ochre with deliberate cross-hatched motifs, alongside a line drawing in ochre on silcrete (73 ka). They are the oldest abstract signs, forerunners of notation.
Engraved ostrich eggshell fragments from Diepkloof (c. 60 ka) show a regional graphic tradition.
What it led to
- Externalising information onto durable media
- Visual codes shared by a community: convention
- A path towards numerical notation and writing
Built on
- Ochre pigment usec. 300 ka
- Personal ornaments (perforated shell beads)c. 142 ka
- Ochre-processing workshop (paint compound)c. 100 ka
- Ochre pigment use
- Ochre-processing workshop (paint compound)
Made possible
- Ostrich eggshell water containersc. 60 ka
- Figurative cave artc. 51 ka
- Tally stick (Lebombo bone)c. 43 ka
- Engraved lunar calendar (Abri Blanchard plaque)c. 32 ka
- Apollo 11 Cave painted plaquesc. 30 ka
- Tally stick (Lebombo bone)
- Engraved lunar calendar (Abri Blanchard plaque)
- Figurative cave art