Neanderthals see red 200,000 years ago

The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neanderthals is well documented in Europe from 60–40,000 years ago, and although they are often interpreted as being used as pigments the exact function is still largely unknown.

A new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has confirmed the use of significantly older iron oxide finds that constitute the earliest documented use of red ochre by Neanderthals.

Ochre is a mineral pigment and red ochre includes iron oxide (haematite) which produces the red colour. The research team is certain that this material was not found in the locality meaning Neanderthals would actively have had to seek the material out and transport it back to the site. Such actions do imply that the material was used for a specific and (to the Neanderthals) useful purpose, which might have included use as a pigment in creating images or as a ritual material or something more prosaic.

Today modern hunter-gatherer peoples have been seen to use red ochre as an insect repellent, as a method of preserving food, medication and as a means of tanning hides. It’s not known of course if Neanderthals were involved in any of these activities, but it does show the wide range of uses that this material can be used for.
Neanderthal remains have been found in Europe and parts of central and western Asia. They lived during the Pleistocene epoch as early as 600,000-350,000 years ago and are believed to have died out some 30,000 years ago.

These finds of ochre amounted to 14 small concentrates retrieved during excavations at Maastricht-Belvédère in the Netherlands in the 1980s. The excavations exposed a series of well-preserved flint artefact and bone scatters gathered in a river valley setting during a late Middle Pleistocene full interglacial period.

Samples of the reddish material were submitted to various forms of analyses to study their physical properties. X-ray powder diffraction analysis by C. Arps in the mid 1980’s showed that these red stains were indeed very probably caused by haematite, which may have entered the sandy sediment in a liquid form, as droplets.

The ochre material found by the team is believed to date back 200-250,000 years ago. Prior to this find, use of manganese and iron oxide by Neanderthals had been seen only as recently as 60-40,000 years ago (which has been interpreted as a use of pigments, though there is as yet no evidence to support such claims).

The team also notes that the time frame of the use of ochre by Neanderthals now coincides with the earliest use of ochre by Homo sapiens in Africa.

The discovery gives a more complete picture of the materials used by the early Neanderthals and of their culture as a whole. We also now know that the use of red ochre was not a specific characteristic of early-modern humans in South Africa, which is what was previously assumed. Of course what exactly the Neanderthals used red ochre for is still unclear.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/01/2012/neanderthals-see-red-200000-years-ago