"Whether ochre procurement or use by Paleoindian groups and their Old World predecessors constitutes evidence for ritual behavior or utilitarian purposes remains an ongoing anthropological discussion (12, 18), yet consensus suggests that the two are not mutually exclusive (19, 20)"
as representative of lingering institutional ignorance in the field of archaeology. The paper fails to address the fact that red ochre mining would only have served an already established society at a time which precedes accepted migration patterns by millennia.
Footnote: This is an update to a prior 2020 post whose source merely cited the caves as possible shelter. I was unable to find any other posts on the topic using multiple keywords in the title, certainly not this paper.
Prior post:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3843566/posts
I would argue that the discovery of mining activities as outlined pushes back migratory patterns for the Yucatan by at least hundreds of years preceding their established dateline in this paper (between 11.4 and 10.7 thousand years before present).
Fascinating stuff despite the ongoing, myopic nature of the scientists doing the work.
Submerged? Musta been climate malfunction. 😂👍
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochre
When natural sienna and umber pigments are heated, they are dehydrated and some of the limonite is transformed into hematite, giving them more reddish colours, called burnt sienna and burnt umber. Ochres are non-toxic and can be used to make an oil paint that dries quickly and covers surfaces thoroughly. Modern ochre pigments often are made using synthetic iron oxide. Pigments which use natural ochre pigments indicate it with the name PY-43 (Pigment yellow 43) on the label, following the Colour Index International system.
“…2000-year period between ~12 and 10 ka.”
KA is a new one to me, obviously a time period. Definition?
As I have stated previously, I had a double major of Spanish and archaeology. I eventually learned that one cannot pay a mortgage, or any other significant bill, with archaeology. To this day archaeology is fascinating.
I will never forget, back in the 1970s, when the “experts” declared that humans first came to North America 10,000 years ago. Over the Bering Straight during the last Ice Age. I decided not to raise my hand and challenge this idiocy. That humans walked into North America is true. When? Well, we shall see.
Archaeology is fascinating when real science is used. For some PhDs, saying “I don’t know” “I’m not sure” is difficult. For others, the beginning of wisdom is stating: “I don’t know.”
I used to loooove watching that 70’s show In Search Of. They would start by describing, showing “mysteries” of the ancient world. More than a few times, I had plenty of knowledge about what was on the television screen. When I would explain something, family and friends would say “well..... Why are they saying we don’t know?” Today, I would say click bait.