An engraved bone fragment from c. 70,000-year-old Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa: Implications for the origin of symbolism and language.

Summary of an article appearing in Antiquity 75 (2001): 309-318.

Article by Francesco d'Errico, Christopher Henshilwood and Peter Nilssen.

An engraved bone fragment found in Blombos Cave, South Africa, implies that Middle Stone Age people in Africa were capable of making symbolic objects 70,000 years ago. By contrast, symbolic objects and personal adornments are not commonly found in Europe until 35,000 years ago.

The bone fragment thought to have been intentionally and symbolically engraved features a series of incisions made with a stone tool. There are eleven incisions that run parallel to the bone’s long axis. A diagonal line intersects six of the other marks. This bone was found in 1992 and has been reexamined after several pieces of carved ochre suggested that it could also be a symbolic artifact.

The engraved bone, which is a fragment of lower jaw from a medium-sized mammal, was first studied to determine if the incisions resulted from deliberate human manufacture or if they were caused by natural processes. Then the examination focused on determining whether the incisions were made during a practical activity such as butchery (removal of flesh from the bone to be eaten) or whether the marks were made simply as an abstract representation.

Microscopic examination showed that the incisions were not made naturally by the feet of animals stepping on the bone or by natural burial processes. The appearance of the striations is similar to that of marks made with a pointed tool. However, the marks were unusually wide and deep, unlike those created during butchery. Purposeful removal of flesh would have resulted in cuts on a different part of the mandible and would not have caused such deep, parallel cuts. These repeated strokes indicate that the maker intended to make deep and visible incisions on the bone.

The authors believe that these intentionally carved lines might be symbolic based upon the behaviors that are shown by other artifacts in Blombos Cave. These artifacts include bone tools that were made in a complex process that the authors think must have involved spoken language. Also, two pieces of ochre have been found in Blombos Cave that have abstract designs engraved on the surface. The ochre pieces have a design of close parallel lines similar to that of the bone fragment. Though the authors are confident that the engraved bone and the two incised ochre pieces are symbolic representations, they do not know what the lines are meant to represent.

These engraved objects seem to provide evidence that certain features of modern human behavior, such as the ability to create and understand symbolic objects, and possibly the ability to use spoken language, were present in Africa 70,000 years ago. Other researchers believe that modern behavior and spoken language arose suddenly and later in time. In the European record, symbolic designs are not commonly found until 35,000 years ago. However, the presence of these designs at Blombos Cave, and elsewhere in Africa, suggests that modern behavior was present earlier in Africa than in Europe.

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