Thanks BenLurkin.
Posted on 03/03/2022 7:59:07 PM PST by BenLurkin
A 40,000-year-old archaeological site in northern China has unearthed the earliest evidence of ochre processing in east Asia, researchers say.
The site was discovered at Xiamabei in the Nihewan Basin, in the northern Chinese province of Hebei.
Ochre pieces and tools found in the area suggest that the clay earth pigment was processed there, via grinding and pounding, to produce powders of different colours and grain sizes.
Near lumps of ochre, archaeologists unearthed a hammer stone as well as a flat limestone slab that showed signs of battering.
In a study published in the journal Nature, the team has dated the artefacts between 39,000 and 41,000 years old.
The site also contained 382 stone tool artefacts, mainly made of chert and quartz. Petraglia said the artefacts appeared to have been created by striking flakes off small pebbles, resulting in blade-like tools. They predate microlith technology – specialised stone blades that have been found in northern China, Russia and Japan – by 10,000 years.
The Xiamabei discovery adds to the archaeological significance of the Nihewan Basin.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
ping
Ochre has been around for a surprisingly long time.
“You get some clay earth pigment! You get some clay earth pigment! Everybody gets some clay earth pigment!”
I wonder who they stole the technology from?
Thanks BenLurkin.
wow, never knew what ochre is... i mean, i saw it in the boardgame civilizaion, but never bothered to find out.
Chinese Red?.............................
I’d read that the young kids aren’t even drinking wine.
Hell, if they were smart enough to turn rocks into tools, they should have been smart enough to know to avoid okra.
Bleh.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
