An Ancient Art Studio Found in Cave In Africa

[undeterred]

A tiny cave on the South African coast has yielded the earliest evidence of an artist's studio -- a processing workshop where a liquefied ochre-rich mixture was produced 100,000 years ago.

Christopher Henshilwood from the Institute for Human Evolution at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and colleagues found the ochre-rich mixture stored in two abalone shells at Blombos Cave on the southern Cape Coast, east of Cape Town, South Africa.

Along with the shells, the researchers found tools such as bones, charcoal, grindstones and hammerstones. The material shows that 100,000 years ago "humans had the conceptual ability to source, combine and store substances that were then possibly used to enhance their social practices," the researchers write in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

The ochre was possibly used for decoration, painting and skin protection, said the researchers. The artefacts were found together buried in sand in 2008, as if someone had stored them with the intention of retrieving them at a later time.



http://news.discovery.com/history/art-studio-111013.html

First tatoo parlor? :shrug:

[Scuba]

1. Cool. Thanks for posting.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Sure. The artist got stoned on some prehistoric weed,

searching for inspiration, and forgot where she buried her paints.

World's first hippie, if ya ask me.

[xchrom]

3. Recommend