Ostrich eggshell water containers
Contenedores de cáscara de huevo de avestruz (cantimploras)
- Date
- c. 60 ka · confidence high
- Place
- Diepkloof Rock Shelter, Western Cape, South Africa
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens
- Field
- Tools
What it is
Ostrich eggshells, perforated and decorated with standardised engraved patterns, used as water flasks. The first portable containers for carrying water.
What it led to
- Mobility across arid zones: expansion into deserts
- Marks of ownership and group style engraved on everyday objects
- A regional geometric decorative tradition
Built on
- Ochre-processing workshop (paint compound)c. 100 ka
- Abstract geometric engraving on ochrec. 75 ka
- Abstract geometric engraving on ochre
Made possible
- Ostrich eggshell beadsc. 50 ka
- Basketryc. 27 ka
- Pottery vessels (Xianrendong)c. 20 ka
- Pottery vessels (Xianrendong)
- Basketry