and Human Evolution: A Case for Discussion [and Comments and Reply] Author(s): Ernst E. Wreschner, Ralph Bolton, Karl W. Butzer, Henri Delporte, Alexander Häusler, Albert Heinrich, Anita Jacobson-Widding, Tadeusz Malinowski, Claude Masset, Sheryl F. Miller, Avraham Ronen, Ralph Solecki, Peter H. Stephenson, Lynn L. Thomas and Heinrich Zollinger Source: Current Anthropology, Vol. 21, No. 5 (Oct., 1980), pp. 631-644 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2741829 Accessed: 13-03-2015 20:58 UTC

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This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS Bornstein,Kessen, and Weiskopf(1977:50) assert: "It can now be stated with reasonableconfidence that human beings are in some mannerwired or programmedfor partitioning the physicallycontinuous spectrumwith the categoriesof red, Red Ochre and Human Evolution: yellow, and ." Berlinand Kay (1969), studyingbasic A Case for Discussion' termsin naturallanguages, find a cross-culturalorder of appearanceof terms in whichred takes similar places in different societies.They suggestthat the orderis evolutionarvin char- byERNST E. WRESCHNER acter. (Durbin [1972] questionsBerlin and Kay's methodsof Departmentof Anthropology,University of Haifa, Mount data gathering,apparently out of suspicionof a reductionist Carmel,Haifa 31 999, Israel. 12 ix 79 tendencyin theirconclusions.) Inspired by theirstudy, Sahlins (1977:172, 167) probes into the biologicalaspects of human Prehistoryhas producedevidence for two meaningfulregulari- color choice: "Color in culture is . . . [a] ties in human evolution:tool makingand the collectionand process of relating, not of recognizing.... It is not, then,that colorterms have their use of ochre.Tools and tool makinghave been acknowledged meaningsimposed by the constraintsof human and physical as fossilindicators of humanskill, mental capacities, and social nature;it is thatthey take and culturaldevelopment. on such constraintsinsofar as they are meaningful." The commentsof anthropologistsand prehistorianson ochre use have dealt mainlywith the mortuarycustoms of theHomo Obviously,color behavior should be evaluatedin the lightof sapiens populationsof the Upper Palaeolithic.While findsof archaeologicalfinds, the sole fossilindicators of color preference in the earliestcultures. Finds of ochre Neandertalochre burials have beenrecorded, their implications are reportedin a wide rangeof foran understandingof the formativeprocesses of colorchoice publications.Sometimes they are verybriefly recorded and the details of and color symbolismhave not received the attentionthey theirstratigraphic and culturalaffiliations deserve. It is symptomaticthat in six lectures devoted to are eithermissing or unclear.Therefore the evidencehas to be closelyscrutinized and Mousterianburial rites (Les sepultures1976), the red ochre cases whichseem insufficientidentified and foundat two of the sites is ignored.In Binford's(1968) essay disqualified.Some materialdesignated ochre may in fact be red on the disposal of the dead in Mousterianand Upper Palaeo- iron-bearingrock. Alternatively,ochre may not have lithicsites, we finda briefremark on ochrein Upper Palaeo- been recognizedas such during excavation. Archaeologists lithicburials but no mentionof it in thoseof the Mousterian. should,however, be able to make thesedistinctions. A On theother hand, references to ochrephenomena create the significantelement in red ochrefinds concerns red-stained impressionthat theyhave been an integralpart of everysocial artifacts,bones, and shellsand ochre-stainedoccupation strata. system and cultural unit since the Upper Palaeolithic-an Red-stainedobjects are oftenfound associated with ochred assumptionthat is not supportedby archaeologicalevidence. human skeletal remains.Here the question of whetherthe During mostcultural stages-the Magdalenianand the North ochringof the objectsand occupationlayers was intentionalor AmericanArchaic are probablyexceptions-ochre users have accidentalbecomes acute. If ochreor ironhydroxides (limonite) beenin theminority. Nevertheless, the transcultural and trans- had been broughtto the occupationsite, heat-processed there, historicalcharacter and structuralsimilarities of ochre prac- and rubbed or pounded on the spot, the powderypigments ticesare striking. could have been eitherdispersed during the periodof occupa- Because color in generaland red in particularplay such an tionor dissolvedthen or laterby wateraction. Besides becom- importantrole in humanbehavior, studies and opinionson the ing attachedto variousobjects in the layers,they could have mechanismsof color preferencecan be foundin such fieldsas stained the layers themselves.That excavatorsare able to anthropology,psychology, linguistics, aesthetics, and biology. distinguishthese details is shownby the exampleof Gonners- Leach (1976,60) reports:"it is very commonto findthat red dorf.At thisMagdalenian site, Bosinski (personal communica- is treatedas a signof danger, which may be derivedfrom red = tion)found that in thedigging of cooking holes soil impregnated blood. But red is also quite oftenassociated withjoy, which withred pigmenthad been removed,causing intensive periph- mightcome fromred = blood = life."Levi-Strauss (quoted in eral coloring.Inizan (1976) has reportedthe discoveryof stone Charbonnier1969:116) has remarked,"Red is a source of toolsfrom Capsian sitesin NorthAfrica which had been dipped phvsicaland physiologicalexcitement." D'Andrade and Egan into a mixtureof ochreand gypsum;a detailed studyof this (1974) argue that emotionalassociations with color are uni- phenomenonwould be interesting.Waste flakeswith red ochre versalin modernman's behaviorbut findno clear explanation tracesalong theirsharp edges have been foundat Palaeolithic forthe factthat characteristicsof colorsuch as saturationand sites in Sinai; Bar-Yosefand Phillips (1977:81) suggestthat brightnessare universallyreacted to in termsof goodnessor theyhad been used to scrapeochre, and ochrehas in factbeen badness,strength or weakness. foundat these sites. The practiceof sprinklingochre on the Pickford's(1972) summaryof color tests and color theories body, the ochringof parts of the corpse,and the burial of shows a predominanceof but no absolute preferencefor red. haematiteor red ochre with the dead are so frequentthat Eysenck (1941), whose color testsinvolved thousands of indi- accidentalstaining through the naturaloccurrence of ochreon viduals,found a preferencefor blue, followedby red. In Mur- the spot can be ruledout. However,objects used in mortuary ray and Deabler's (1957) experimentson color-moodassocia- customs,snail and other shells,and animal bones and teeth tions,red was ratedas "exciting"and blue or greenas "secure." may have acquireda secondarystaining. Snail and othershells Scott (1970), summarizingthe results of Luescher tests, reports may have been personalbelongings of the deceased,but they a preferencefor red. Weitman(1973:349-50), who has studied undoubtedlyhad ritual or symbolicmeaning. Althoughan colorassociations in nationalflags, reports: "The vast majority intentionalochring of theseobjects is plausible,it is difficultto of nationsuse the colorRed to symbolizesuch thingsas 'wars identify,and red objects associatedwith burials should there- foughtagainst aggressors','military valor', 'courage', 'blood forebe evaluated in the knowledgethat theircolor may be shed in battle', 'readinessto sacrifice','revolt', 'strugglefor accidental. independence','revolution', etc. What is remarkablehere is the The earliestfind of red ochre in a habitationsite of early extraordinarydegree of consensus among all these vastly hominidsis the two lumpsfound by Leakey (1958:1099-1103) differentcultures about the meaningof thiscolor." in BKJJat Olduvai. Cole (1963:137) raisedthe questionof the probable use of ochre by Olduvai H. erectus.Because of the 1 ? 1980 by The Wenner-GrenFoundation for Anthropological antiquityof the discovery,she rejected a body-paintinghy- Research 0011-3204/80/2105-0005$01.50 pothesis.It seemsto me that the possibilityof the use of ochre Vol. 21 * No. 5 * October1980 631

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions for body painting is of secondaryinterest. What is more rangementof mammothbones withred ochrein the centerat interestingis that we are here confrontedwith evidenceof a Molodova (Klein 1973:69). social action probably stimulatedby the capacity for color Ochre burials in Mousteriancontexts-and, indeed, in all categorization.Already experienced tool makers,one or several prehistoricperiods-are fewerthan those without ochre. Among groupmembers distinguished between these colored stones and roughlycontemporary populations with similartechnologies, those suitable for flaking.Collecting them and transporting oftenin the same region,a fewgroups used the red pigments themto the habitationsite meant sharingan experiencewith whileothers buried their dead eitherwithout funerary gifts or others.Whether someone tried to hammeror pound themwe with trophiesof the hunt or tools. Thus at La Ferrassie, will neverknow. However,Olduvai providesour firstoppor- Regourdou,and La Quina there is no ochre associated with tunityto ask what activated man's curiosityabout the red burials,but red ochre has been foundin an occupationlayer color. Do we have here the firstevidence of a capacity for (C) at La Ferrassie.Again, in contrastto thoseat Qafza, the perceptive color categorization?We can assume that the human remainsat Ras el-Kelb, Kebara, Tabuln,Skhful, and capacityfor creating meaningful relationships of an ideational Amud lack ochre. naturewas not yet well developed,and thismay be the reason The archaeologicalevidence shows that it was Neandertal some 500,000years passed beforehominids with better brains man who created a new dimensionin human behavior that began again to experimentwith red ochre. fromthen on was an integralpart of culture.It is interesting These moreadvanced types were the Acheulian bands, which that symbolismrelated to death and kin was developedby the possessed fire and left clear evidence of intentionalochre human type supposed to have been the firstto acquire the collection and preparation.Howell (1966) reports that at capacitv for speech. We may now ask again if associative Ambronaa slab ofochre was apparentlydeliberately shaped by stimuliare at the root of the color symbolismof mentally trimming.A groupof 75 ochrepieces retrieved from two layers advanced Mousterianpopulations and if red ochrewas chosen at Terra Amata shows color shades fromyellow to red and as a symbolicvehicle with special properties and because of its red-,with many intermediate and irregularones attribut- mostprominent one-the colorof blood. Or is "red" now part able to differentthermal influence. The raw materialfor the of the neurologicalsystem and a source of preferenceor of pigments-limonite-musthave been broughtto the site for relationships?These are questionsI shall returnto later. firing.It is possiblethat the transformationof a yellowstone With the appearance of H. sapiens sapiens in Western, intoa red one was viewedas magic-a viewperhaps reinforced Central, and Eastern Europe, we witnessa rapid spread of by the fact that when rubbedand broughtinto contactwith ochrecustoms. There are 123 ochre-bearingsites, among them liquid it was thecolor of dried blood, meat, or fruitand berries. 25 ochre burials, reported from Aurignacian,Perigordian, The hunter-gathererswho experimentedwith ochre at Terra Gravettian,Solutrean, and Magdalenian contexts.These re- Amata are credited with other technical skills and social flectnot onlythe results of archaeological efforts, but thesocial achievements(de Lumleyand Boone 1976). The archaeological and culturalachievements of these hunters,symbolizers par assemblagepoints to mentalcapacities which are outstanding excellence. Marine shells and animal bones and teeth are in the Early Acheuliancontext. It seemspossible that, because integralelements of theirsymbolism, found in theircampsites of the circumstancesof its manufacture,the red pigmentcame and theirburials. The mammoth,often associated with red to be endowedwith meanings and that,through its application ochre,figures prominently in the burialsand ritualdepositions as a powerfulmedicine, relationships between it and thingsor of the Eastern Gravettians.Solutrean groups are supposedto between it and the human body were created (Wreschner have practicedrituals in whichthe humanskull and red ochre 1976b). Apart fromOlduvai, Ambronaand Terra Amata are played central roles (Maringer 1960). Grindingstones with so farthe earliest signs of color preference. They are farremoved traces of red are frequent;figurines and engravingson stone fromthe stage in whichcolor behavior is generallyaccepted as and bone wereochred. In MagdalenianStages II-V ochreas a natural. Because of their isolation in time and space, they symbolicvehicle attained its widest distribution.With the contain a message: they are manifestationsof developments exceptionof humanfigurines, all otherobjects found in habita- thatmuch later, from Mousterian times on, becamea "regular- tionsites are also encounteredin burials.The symbolicsystems itv" in culture. of these Upper Palaeolithic huntersseem to revolve around Betweenthe Early Acheulianochre evidence and the emer- fertilityand procreation,death-life, and thecycle of the seasons. gence of Mousterianochre practices,practically no findsare Of the 16 Mesolithicsites withochre finds in Europe, 7 are reported(the singleexception is fromCastillo [Alcaldedel Rio, ochreburials or depositionsof ochred skulls. Some of thesesites Breuil,and Serra 1911, cited by Miiller-Karpe1966:288]). It are chronologicallyclose to thefinal Magdalenian, and similari- is difficultto assess whetherthis gap reflectsa real absence of tieswith Late Magdalenianburial customs point to a continua- interestin red pigmentson the part of groups of Acheulian tion of these traditionsas a probableresult of adaptation by tradition.However, systematicstudies of Acheulian sites of Mesolithicgroups. A prominenttrend is the declineof the use differentstages are abundant,and if ochrehad been presentin of snail and other shells and animal bones in burials, ochre any of themprehistorians would surelyhave recognizedit. becomingdominant. Whether it was already conceivedas a Evidence for ochre collectingappears in the early Middle substitutefor blood is hard to say. Mousterian,about 70,000years ago. It is onlytowards the end In comparisonwith their European contemporaries,the of the Mousterianthat the use of red ochre is documented Levantineand NorthAfrican Palaeolithic and Epi-Palaeolithic archaeologically.Among the manyexcavated Mousterian sites groups used red pigmentson a much smaller scale. Of 18 are 15 that have yieldedochre, either in occupationlevels, in ochre-bearingsites, 6 containochre burials. As in theirEuropean burials, or in ritual depositionsof diverse objects. (Not in- counterparts,marine shells are frequentlyassociated with cluded in this numberare 4 South Africanochre-mining sites ochre.Of themany Kebaran sites,ochre has been foundin only withAfrican Middle Stone Age assemblages[Dart and Beau- 6. In sharp contrastto the Kebaran, whichis poor in human mont1971]). The evidencefor ochre use by Neandertalpopula- remains,the subsequentNatufian has yielded the remainsof tions is comprisedof the sprinklingof a human body at Le about 200 individuals.The Natufiansused redochre selectively Moustier,the deposition of bones, jasper, and ochrearound the in theirburials; individualswere buried with dentalium head- head of a male at La Chapelle-aux-Saints,two skeletonsin bands or withred ochreor withboth. It is possiblethat this whose vicinityred ochre abounds at Qafza (Vandermeersch practicereflects status differences.Ochre burials are foundin 1969), fivehuman incisorsdeposited with red ochre at Pinar the Natufiansettlements of Nachal Oren, Yonim Cave, and (Jullien 1965:164), the remainsof a fallow-deerburial with Eynan, but not at El Wad. ochre at Nahr Ibrahim (Solecki 1975:283), and an oval ar- Neolithicfarmers used red ochreto enhancethe potencyof

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This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions symbolicobjects, which revolved mainly around celestial phe dinarysimilarities and repetitivepatterns in symbolicactions nomena. The figurinesof the Eye Goddess, the rain giver Although these patterns become distinguishableonly wit' pebble figurinesfrom Byblos, Munhatta, Sha'ar-Hagolan, an( Mousterian populations,the earlier instances of red colk otherNear Eastern sites,and fertilitysymbols of the Mothei attractionseem to be part ofan evolutionarycognitive proces: Earth complexwere painted or coated withred ochre(Wresch Cognitionis knowingor acquiringknowledge. The perceptio: ner 1976a). of red, the ability to discriminatecolors, led to actions tha Of the 13 siteswith ochre finds of Near Easternpastoralists resultedin new experiencesand learning.Part of the cognitiv 5 have ochre burials. In the ochre burial customs of Nea. processis the endowmentof objects-in thiscase ochre-witi Eastern and North Africansocieties, red ochre is the soli meaning.The creationof relationshipsresulted in social an symbolicvehicle from 6000 B.C. on. cultural structures.One such relationshipmight be bod Palaeo-Indiansand populationsof theLate Archaicin Nortl painting,which could, as a signal device,have contributedt Americamade extensiveuse of red ochrein mortuarycustom, groupcoherence (Wreschner 1976b). in 10 reportedburial sites (Binford 1963, 1972; Orr 1968 Recognitionis knowingagain. What can be recognizedmus Ritzenthalerand Quimby1962; Laughlin1967). already exist in the mind; it must be somethingsimilar o Pastoralistsof the of Russia between2000 B.C. steppes and identical to somethingpreviously learned or known. Junj 1700 B.C. and populations on the island of Malta around (1964) holds that the mindis as mucha productof evolutio: 1500 B.C. buriedtheir dead withochre. In the pit, catacomb as the body. The color behavior of early hominidsshow and moundburials of theformer, bones of herdanimals and o0 nothingthat can be interpretedas recognition.Awareness an hare and fox were depositedwith the heavily ochredbodies. thecapacity for abstraction seem not yetsufficiently develope Red ochre was also placed in bowls beside the body. (The to permitit. This is perhapsthe meaningof the 500,000-yea placingof a bowlof ochrein thegrave recalls the Maori legend gap betweenH. erectusand H. sapiensneandertal. of the womanwho wentto the netherworldand foundthere a Biologyis at the rootof humancolor behavior. Archaeolog3 bowl of red ochre;she ate the ochre,became strong again, and makes this clear and demonstratesthat biologicalfoundatio was restoredto life.) and human color choice are inseparableand interacting.Ii In recentnonliterate societies, red is closelyconnected witb seems unwarrantedto conceiveof color behavior,as Sahlinz reproduction,with "mothers," with blood, and withrituals and (1977:172) does, solely as "a process of relating." Al symbolismrelated to life and death. In Ndembu ritesof the relationshipsbetween ochre and ideas also indicate, sinc riversource, red clay representsthe blood of the "mother";in Mousteriantimes, the capacity for recognition. The Neanderta the Ndembu twinshipritual, the act of blowingred and white innovationrelating death and red ochre-probably with th clay powderfrom a big water-snailshell over theface and chest idea of connectingblood withlife and life/bloodwith red ochr dramatizesthe theory of procreation (Turner 1969:53-69). The -and its widespreadadoption or inventioncannot be satisfac association of blood with red ochre is illuminatedby the torilyexplained in termsof a process of relatingonly or ir AustralianAboriginal legend of the UnthippaWomen (Bettel- termsof diffusion.As a resultof evolutionaryprocesses thal heim 1962:97). Durkheim(1957 [1912]:137) remarked,"The are not yet understood,perceptive categorization-wiring o: blood comingfrom the genital organs is especially sacred." programming-becamepart of the human equipment,of hu- Increase ceremoniesand initiationrites are closelyconnected man nature.Being of selectivevalue in general,but not neces- withred ochre (Cranstone 1973:41-42; Turner1969:40; Wallis sarilyin the particularcase of red color,it could be utilizedin 1939:165). Red dressesare wornin the marriageceremonies of the formativeprocesses of symbolismby way of recognizing Druze communitiesin Israel, YemeniteJews, and Mari Baluch and relating.Thus red pigmentscould becomea synonymfor in Baluchistan.These are onlya fewexamples from the wealth blood and life,for danger and death. of data revealed by ethnographicstudies on the customs, Whilepresent-day nonliterate societies still employ red ochre rituals,and symbolismrelated to death-lifeand fertilityand or red objects as symbolicvehicles for human blood or forthe procreation. femaleprinciple, modern civilized man, withhis evolutionary, The relationshipbetween ochre and blood and betweenochre biologicallyrooted color associations,can and does use red and "mothers"is signifiedby the Greekhaema/haima (as in moreand more.Thus we witnesshere and therethe survivalof haematite),which means "blood." Dart (1968:24) has drawn red ochretraditions such as hina in Asian communities,though attentionto the fact that ":Haima is the mostemphatic form in most cases devoid of theiroriginal meaning. Modern man, in whichthe basic rootMA could be vocalized.Metra in Greek withhis greatcapacity for abstraction and his universalequip- and matrixin Latin 'womb'refer more properly to its entrance, ment for utilizingcolor associations,employs the color red the vulva." Turner(1967:172) has observedthat the wombis itselfas a potent social and cultural symbol.Here, too, as in many culturesequated with the tomb and both associated Weitman's(1976:62) studyshows, red is equated withhuman with the earth, the source of fruits.It is believed that ores blood in contextsof an emotionalcharacter. grow inside the earth like an embryoin the womb. Eliade (1954:56) remarkedthat fornonliterate peoples oresbelong to the domainof the Earth Mother.It was customaryin Swazi- Comments land, in historictimes, to fillin the excavationof red minerals to avoid offendingthe spiritsof the underworld(Raymond byRALPH BOLTON Dart, personalcommunication). Departmentof Anthropology,Pomona College,Claremont, Ca. In moderncultures black, white, red, green, yellow, and blue 91711, U.S.A. 5 iII 80 play importantroles in communicationsystems and technology. Coloris a topic enjoyingvigorous and excitingresearch efforts The choiceof these colorsfor signal devices is withoutdoubt in anthropologyat present.Indeed, this subject is one of influencedby theirphysical properties and man's perceptual those most blessed by a sustained interestand progressive system,in whichassociative reactions serve as signals.Red is theoreticalrefinement (not to mention Kuhnian turmoil). hot and blue is cool; red is danger (stop) and greenis safety During the past decade valuable contributionsto the under- (go). Is it a coincidencethat in thesecolor relationships human standingof human color behaviorhave come frombiological, choicefollows the same principlesas the developmentof basic cultural,linguistic, and psychologicalspecialists. It was about colorterms in languages? timefor archaeologists to join thefun. I hope thatWreschner's In thisbrief survey, the attractionto ochrehas led us like a shortarticle will stimulatediscussion not only of the specific red threadthrough more than 500,000years of man's history. case that he presents,but moregenerally of the relevanceof The studyof color preference demandsattention to the extraor- archaeologicaldata to color-researchissues. By pointingto Vol. 21 * No. 5 * October1980 633 This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions potentialimplications of red ochre findsfor color problems, to whichany othercolor label had been applied.Yellow, green, Wreschnerhas placed us in his debt; we shall be even more and blue werementioned with almost equal frequencybut much indebtedif his lead resultsin furtherinput from archaeology. less oftenthan red. In a sampleof tale textsfrom 40 cultures, We have been aware for a long time of the presenceof red redwas foundto be themost salient color term in 27 collections ochrein prehistoricsites, particularly associated with burials, of tales,tied for highest salience in 3 collections,and less salient and that presencehas oftenbeen cited as evidence for the than anothercolor in 10 collections.Thus the prominenceof existenceof religiousbeliefs and ritualsand, morebroadly, of redsymbolically is fullydocumented ethnographically in realms the symbol-usingcapabilities of the populationsinvolved, e.g., of expressiveculture. Neandertal.As faras I know,however, the significanceof the Wreschneruses the word "preference"in relationto human colorred in thiscontext has not been sufficientlyappreciated. orientationsto red,but salienceis reallywhat he is discussing. Hence I foundWreschner's comments intriguing. There is a real, thoughsubtle, difference between these terms, In viewof the prominence of red in theevolutionary sequence and the differencemay be important.He cites some studies ofbasic colorterms (Berlin and Kay 1969) and in the resultsof reportingresults which show that people may preferother intraculturaland cross-culturalstudies of the relativesalience colorsto red,for instance, blue (Eysenck 1941). The fact that of color categories(cf. Bolton 1978, Bolton and Crisp 1979, red is prominentlyassociated with prehistoric remains does not Bolton, Curtis,and Thomas n.d.), it is noteworthythat red necessarilyimply that red was betterliked but only that it shouldbe thecolor that standsout in the archaeologicalrecord was used as an importantvehicle of symboliccommunication. fromsuch earlyperiods as those indicatedin this articleand It was and continuesto be salientfor humans. especiallyin contextssuggestive of the deliberate,symbolic use Wreschnermentions work by D'Andrade and Egan (1974) of color. As a nonarchaeologist,I was not certain how to on the emotionalassociations with color and theirargument interpretthis fact,however. Might therebe some explanation that such associationsare universal.It is germaneto point to forthe salienceof red archaeologicallythat has nothingto do otherresearch on this topic,especially that by Osgood, May, with symbolismor with human perceptualcapacities? Could and Miron (1975), who foundred to be the color higheston otherobjects carryingsymbolic color information fail to have theirpotency dimension of affectivemeaning. Wreschner refers survived?Is red ochre more likely to be durable than such to red as a "potentsocial and culturalsymbol," but the basic objectsand theircorresponding color information (e.g., flowers)? point is that red connotespotency more than any othercolor The authordoes not deal withthe possibilitythat othercolors does. Thus, cross-culturallyred symbolizesor has the meaning mighthave been as importantas red but that the data simply of poweras muchas it does of danger,blood, and so forth.In are deficientwith respect to such . This question, it a sense,the use of red in the contextof death (burials/hunts) seemsto me, shouldbe addressed. may seem anomalous,since this is the situationin whichhu- Regardlessof the answerto that question,though, I suspect mansmay be theleast powerful. They can do nothingto reverse that red was symbolicallyimportant, as the authorclaims, if the ultimate fact of death. Because of its connotationsof not as the most salient color,then surelyas one of the most power,red is themost appropriate color to employto symbolize salient.The importanceof red in ritualcontexts is apparentin defianceof death. Or its use may representan attempt,how- the data providedby Wreschner.Interestingly, recent work ever unsuccessful,to overcomedeath, to reversethe process, has demonstratedthat the relativesalience of color categories to restorepower. The use of red may signala denial of human mostclosely parallels the evolutionarysequence of colorterms weaknessand of death as a threatto humansurvival. preciselyin the domain of ritual (the goodnessof fitis con- What is remarkableis the "magic" involvedin ochre'scolor siderablylower for subsistencedomains and somewhatlower transformation,i.e., fromyellow to red. This processmay be for other domains of expressiveculture) (Bolton 1978). It crucial in explainingwhy ochre was used ratherthan some could be argued that it is in the ritual domain where the other red object. I would like to suggest two reasons this biological structuresresponsible for the relative salience of yellow-redtransformation might be significant.First, the color colors would be most visible, since this domain of human next in salience to red tends to be yellow.Occasionally one activityis less completelyconstrained by immediateenviron- encountersdata in whichyellow cedes secondplace to blue or mental and utilitarianfactors than other domains are. Not green,but on averageyellow is moresalient than either of these. onlyis "biologythe rootof humancolor behavior" as Wresch- This is true not only of intraculturaldata on color-term ner claims,but it is especiallyin the area of ritualsymbolism salience, but also of the patterns of lexical development that thoseroots are most easily exposed:here the outcomeof (Witkowskiand Brown 1977:52). Second, whilered is at the evolutionaryprocesses is laid bare. This is striking,of course, top of the list of colorsas far as potencyis concerned,yellow because of the tendencyfor ritual to be thoughtof as perhaps is at the bottom.Consequently, ochre is especiallysuitable as the most highlysymbolic (read "cultural") activityin which a ritual symbol because it involves the transformationof humans engage. It could be argued, further,that deeply somethingthat is highlysalient into somethingthat is highest meaningfulsymbols or symbolsystems are thosethat faithfully in salienceperceptually and becauseit involvesthe transforma- reflector are isomorphicwith the relevant biological structures. tion of weaknessinto power.Death, of course,is the opposite This would account for the widespreadoccurrence in rituals transformation,from power to weakness.The use of ochremay cross-culturallyof the color triad black-white-red,noted by be an attemptto reversethe lattertransformation or to deny Turner(1967). it by juxtaposingit withits opposite.Similar reasoning could A seconddomain in whichthe relative salience of color terms be involvedin the use of ochrewith respect to hunting.If one rather closely mirrorsthe evolutionarysequence is that of wishesto killan animalone mightsymbolize this by juxtaposing folktales.In thisdomain humans do notseem unduly bound by the weakness-to-powershift of ochrewith the intendedpower- considerationsof veridicalityand relativeenvironmental ubiq- to-weaknessshift of the hunt(i.e., the animal'sdeath). In each uityin theiruse of color terms(Bolton and Crisp 1979). Just case one wishesto transformsomething on the power dimen- as prehistoricpopulations often liberally employed red ochrein sion, but timingprobably differsin the two contexts,with ritualcontexts, contemporary people in many culturesgener- ochrebeing used aftera human death has occurredbut prior ouslyapply the label "red" to a broad rangeof objects.In one to the animal's death (smearedon tools or on the remainsof analysisof the typesof objects to whichdifferent color terms previouskills beforegoing out on a hunt). had been attached,it was discoveredthat red was the most Wreschneraccepts the receivedwisdom on the importance salienthue (i.e., excluding"color" termsfor black and white). of the symbolicrelationship between blood and red. I have an The numberof object classes to whichred was applied was uneasyfeeling that too muchis made of the obviousfact that approximatelytwo and one-halftimes as large as the number red oftensymbolizes blood. Clearly the salience of red is nOt

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This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions due to its associationwith blood; the researchby Bornstein, can easily simulate ochre powder to the uninitiated.Less Kessen, and Weiskopf(1976) demonstratesthe priorityof problematicalare ochre-smearedrocks, which I have indeed perceptualsalience and the importanceof physiologicalfactors been able to verifyin Upper/Late Paleolithic sites, or the as determinantsof color-termsalience (cf. von Wattenwyland well-knownred paintsemployed in parietalor mobiliaryart. Zollinger1979). The neurophysiologicalbasis of color vision I wouldsuggest that Wreschner has made a plausiblecase for rendersred markedlysalient for humans,and it is entirely therelevance of ochre in "social and culturaldevelopment" but plausible that the salience of red, whichappears to be wired notin "humanevolution" in thestrict sense. More importantly, into the species,is responsiblefor the potencyof blood as a I would like to plead fora moreresponsible approach to the symbol.One mightspeculate that it is not because blood is red analysis and interpretationof "red" materialsin the archeo- that red is a powerfulsymbol but ratherit is the rednessof logical recordbefore sociocultural significance is attached to blood that makes blood a powerfulsubstance symbolically. them. Would blood be as potenta symbolif it weregrey? Red height- ens the symbolicsignificance of blood ratherthan vice versa. byHENRI DELPORTE Musee des AntiquitesNationales, 78103 St. Germainen Laye, 8 iII 80 byKARL W. BUTZER France. Departmentsof Anthropologyand Geography,University of II me semble que le problemede l'ocre au Paleolithique est Chicago,Chicago, III. 60637, U.S.A. 24 i 80 d'abord de reunirune informationobjective et de tenterd'en evaluer la pertinence,avant de recourira la comparaison Ochre is undoubtedlya prominentfeature in some later pre- ethnographiqueen vue d'en determinerl'usage et la significa- historicsites. However, many claims for ochre are spurious, tion,usage et significationqui peuventd'ailleurs etre multiples based not on competentanalyses or contextualevaluation, but (j'ai signale,a titreanecdotique, que l'ocre se reveleextreme- on unseasoned archeologicalfield conclusions.As a result, mentutile dans l'operationde gravuresur os ... ). Dans cette perhapsa majorityof the claimsfor ochre in particulararcheo- optique,il est necessairede preciserles pointssuivants: logicalassociations are eitherinconclusive or simplywrong. t. Quelles sont les varietesminerales qu'on groupe sous le Red pigmentcan be obtainedby grindingdown hematitic or nom d'ocre? Quelles sont leurs proprietesphysiques et chi- limoniticconcretions (such as speculariteor trueochre) as well miques? Peut-on determinerleur origineet, de ce fait, leurs as ferruginizedshales or sandstones.It can be derivedfrom a cheminements?Les recherchesde Couraud (1978) sont in- paste made fromsesquioxide-rich clayey or sandysoils. Finally, a ce sujet. blood can also be used forthe purpose."Ochre" is thereforea teressantes 2. Wreschnerparle de dissolutionde l'ocrepar 1'eau. Ce type misleadinggeneric term, and thereis a majordifference whether de migrationest-il possible? A-t-il ete etudie?N'existe-t-il pas a reddish rock is collected for curiositypurposes, whether migration? nonstainingrock powder is generated,or whethera red stainis d'autrestypes de 3. Quels sont les caracteresintrinseques des decouvertes producedfrom a red "soil," a partlylithified ferric powder, or formede masseamorphe, de de poudre, blood plasma. In each case identificationand archeological d'ocre-sous ((crayons)), interpretationpose differentproblems that mustbe dealt with etc.? explicitly.The issueis too complexto lenditself to a generalized 4. Quels en sont les caracteresextrinseques? L'ocre a ete discussionof "ochrein archeologicalsites." observeedans les sepultures;sous quelle forme?oui? L'absence en correlationavec The "ochreslab" at Ambronawas a reddishsiltstone which, d'ocre dans certainessepultures est-elle d'ocre sur des because of natural fracturesalong the laminate structure, d'autresphenomenes? On a observela presence feminines(Wil- appeared to be flaked:to prove humanmodification would be oeuvresd'art, par exemplesur des figurations par exemple nextto impossible.In its specificcontext, the rockwas one of lendorf,Laussel, etc.) ou sur des objets varies, many manuportsbut could have been obtained at no great a la Madeleine; y a-t-il des localisationsparticulieres (par La presencede distance.There is no evidenceof rockpulverization. Red stain exemple,a Laussel, sur les seins et le ventre)? habitats: dans le could have been farmore easily obtained from a paste of local l'ocre a egalementete observee dans des a red soils,but thiswould have leftno permanentrecord. In the niveau inferieurde I'abri du Facteur, Tursac (Dordogne) otherinstance of an earlysite, Hay (1976:185) has not explicit- (Aurignacien1), j'ai observe(Delporte 1968) la colorationtres des ly verifiedthe nature of the "two lumps of ochre" originally intensesur la surfaced'occupation situee en arriere foyers, sans dissolu- reportedby Leakey forOlduvai Bed II (Upper). avec entralnementde l'ocre par l'eau-avec ou de plaquettes de gelifractionsous- None of the stratifiedAcheulian open-air or cave siteswhere tion?-dans la couche des localisationsde l'ocre a l'interieurde I have studied archeologicalsediments-in Spain (Torralba jacente. Existe-t-il tendance a etre sys- and Ambrona) and South Africa (Wonderwork,Rooidam, l'habitat? Ces localisations ont-elles Doornlaagte)-provide evidenceof ochremanipulation or use. tematiques? aura ete reunieet il Withoutwishing to denythe use of ochrein Middle Paleolithic Lorsqu'une telle information ((pesee)), les conditionsde sites,particularly in certainFrench burials, I have also been sera beaucoupplus facilede tenterde preciser hommesdu Paleolithique. unable to verifyits use in Mousterianstrata of northernSpain l'utilisationde l'ocre par les (Cueva Morin, Castillo, La Flecha, El Pendo, Cobalejos) or [It seems to me that the problemof Paleolithicred ochre is Middle Stone Age occupationsin South Africa (Border Cave, firstof all to gatherobjective information about it and tryto Bushman Rock, Rose Cottage Cave, Klasies River Mouth, evaluate the pertinenceof that informationbefore we rushoff Nelson Bay Cave), despiteinstances in whichsome excavators to make ethnographiccomparisons with a view to determining have claimed otherwise.Red rocksare presentin a fewbut are its use and significance.Moreover, its use and significancemay of local origin and contain little iron. Purportedlyochre be multiple(I have pointed out anecdotallythat ochre has laminae invariablyare fire-baked("ceramicized") sediment, proved extremelyuseful in the process of engravingbone). resultingfrom oxidization in response to high floor-contact Fromthis point of view, the following questions must be raised: temperaturesunder hearths. In fact,silt- or sand-sizedgrains 1. What are the various mineralsthat we group under the or laminae of red-firedsedimentary aggregates pose a major name of ochre?What are theirphysical and chemicalproper- problemin the physical analysis of the residuesof most in- ties?Can theirorigin be determined,and can we thendetermine tensivelyoccupied sites. If a fireis set in a burialpit priorto or the changesthey have undergone?Couraud's (1978) studiesin subsequentto interment(a reasonablycommon practice with thisarea are veryinteresting. ethnographicor late prehistoricgroups), the baked sediment 2. Wreschnerspeaks of the dissolutionof ochreby water.Is

Vol. 21 * No. 5 * October1980 635 This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions this means of spreadingpossible? Has it been studied? Are oder um rot gefarbteErdklumpen (Ecsedy 1979:40). Dadurch thereno otherways in whichthis can happen? trittdie symbolischeBedeutung von ((Ocker))in diesenGrabern 3; What are the intrinsiccharacteristics of the ochrefinds- nur noch deutlicherhervor. Ahnliches ist auch furdie meisten amorphousmass, "crayons,"powder, etc.? anderen ur- und frtihgeschichtlichenKulturen anzunehmen. 4. What are its extrinsiccharacteristics? Ochre has been Daneben ist aber auch eine einfachere,profane Deutung der foundin graves; in what form?where? Is therea correlation Verwendungvon ((Ocker))nicht auszuschliefen,wie das von betweenthe absence of ochre in some graves and otherphe- den UreinwohnernAustraliens bezeugt ist (Timm 1964). nomena?Traces of ochrehave been foundon art objects,e.g., Deshalb ware es problematisch,von der Auffindungvon Ocker on femalefigurines (Willendorf, Laussel, etc.) or on a variety in Siedlungsschichtenoder Grubenautomatisch auch auf eine of objects (La Madeleine). Are thereany particularspots in rituelleVerwendung in den betreffendenKulturen zu schliefen. on whichit is found(e.g., at Laussel it was the breasts and [It is verygratifying to see Wreschnertaking up the problem Ochrehas also beenfound in dwellings;in thelower abdomen)? of ochre in prehistorictimes. Bachofen (1925 [1859]) was level of the Abridu Facteurat Tursac,Dordogne (Aurignacian aware of the significanceof ochre, and it has been widely I), I observeda veryintense colouring of the habitationfloor discussedever since (e.g., Timm 1964; Ecsedy 1979:39-40). the fireplaces,with the ochre having been carriedby behind Evidence of the perceptionof colour,which is not confined water into the underlyinglayer of frost-shatteredslabs. Are to red alone,has apparentlycome downto us fromthe timeof certainlocations within dwellings where ochre is found? there Neandertalman (Smolla 1967). There is a close relationship Do theselocations appear to be systematicin any way? between the use of ochre and burial rites among Eurasian informationhas been Whenthis type of gatheredand weighed, huntingand fishingcultures, but this customlost its signifi- it willbe easier to tryto make someprecise statements on the cance duringthe transitionfrom an adaptive to a productive use of ochreamongst Palaeolithic peoples.] economy(Hausler 1974, 1976). In the Epipalaeolithic,Meso- lithic,and sub-Neolithichunting and fishinggroups of northern Eurasia, the ochrecolouring of the dead (i.e., the sprinklingof byALEXANDER HXUSLER the bodies and oftenalso the grave objects with ochre) is an ZentralinstitutfiirAlte Geschichte und Archdologie der Akademie especiallystriking phenomenon (Hausler 1962). The bearersof der Wissenschaftender DDR, LeipzigerStr. 3/4, 108 Berlin, the Ochre-Graveculture (3d-2d centuryB.C.), locatedbetween GermanDemocratic Republic. 10 ii 80 the Urals and the Carpathians,who had adopted agriculture Es ist sehr zu begrtiBen,daB Wreschnerdas Problem der and especiallycattle raising,still show signsof the persistence Ockerfarbungin der Urgeschichteaufgreift. Die Bedeutung ofthis burial custom associated with fishing and huntinggroups. der Ockerfarbungwurde bereitsvon Bachofen(1925 [1859]), Thus it is quite strikingthat the customof usingochre lost its erkannt,um dann immerwieder diskutiertzu werden (z.B. significancewith the passage of time. It cannot be firmly Timm1964, Ecsedy 1979:39-40). Belegefur das Farbempfinden, establishedwhat actual changesin ideologybrought about the die sich nicht allein auf die rote Farbe beschranken,sind decrease in this custom. Ochre appears in this culture as a anscheinendschon seit der Zeit der Neandertalertiberliefert powderfor strewing, but it is also foundas lumpsor egg-shaped (Smolla 1967). Woraufhier hingewiesenwerden soll, ist die piecesin graves,which are sometimespresent in largenumbers enge Verbindungzwischen der Verwendungvon Ocker im (Hausler 1974,Ecsedy 1979:39-40). The relationshipbetween Bestattungsritualbei den Jager-und FischerkulturenEura- the egg-shapedpieces of ochreand the large numberof actual siens, wahrend beim Ubergang von der aneigenendenzur birds' eggs foundin the graves(Hausler 1974:96; 1976:66) is erzeugendenWirtschaft diese Sitte jeweils an Bedeutung clearly an expressionof the concept of rebirth.Bachofen verliert (Hausler 1974, 1976). Bei den epipalaolithischen, (1925 [1859]) has investigatedthis symbolism in somedetail. mesolithischenund subneolithischenJager- und Fischergrup- We should,however, be aware that the terms"ochre dye" pen Nordeurasiensist die Ockerfarbungder Toten, d.h. die and "ochre" are used onlyin a generalway to designatea red, Bestreuungdes Leichnamsmit Ocker,haufig auch die Ocker- reddish,or yellowcolorant. Very few chemical analyses of this farbungder Beiganen, ein besondersauffallendes Phanomen substance have been carried out. It can be shown that the (Hausler 1962). Die zur Landwirtschaft,insbesondere zur materialfound in certainHungarian Ochre-Grave culture sites Viehhaltung,ubergegangenen Trager der zwischenUral und was actually hematite(which does not occur in the area) or Karpaten verbreitetenOckergrabkultur (3.-2. Jt. v.u. Z.) red-colouredclumps of earth (Ecsedy 1979:40). Thus the lassen die kontinuierlicheWeiterentwicklung der Bestat- symbolicsignificance of "ochre" in these graves stands out tungssittensolcher Jager- und Fischergruppenerkennen. Dabei even moreclearly. Similar assumptions can be made formost falltauf, daB hierder Brauch der Ockerfarbungim Laufe der of the other prehistoricand early historiccultures. In this Zeit an Bedeutungverliert. Es laBtsich indessennicht konkret connectionone cannotrule out a simpler,nonreligious signifi- feststellen,welche Anderungen der ideologischenVorstellungen cance for the use of "ochre," such as that evidencedby the diese Verringerungder Ockerfarbungbewirkten. Ocker tritt in Aboriginesof Australia(Timm 1964). For thisreason it would dieser Kultur als Farbstreuung,aber auch als Beigabe vom be questionableto conclude definitelythat the presenceof Klumpenoder sogarvon eifbrmigenStuicken auf, die bisweilen ochre in graves or settlementsites automaticallymeans that in groBerZahl beigegebenwurden (Hausler 1974:96; Ecsedy it had a ritualpurpose in that particularculture.] 1979:39-40). Hier liegtdie Verbindungzwischen dem eiformi- gen Ockerstuickund der recht haufigenBeigabe von echten Vogeleiern (Hausler 1974:96; 1976:66) als Ausdruck des byALBERT HEINRICH Gedankens der Wiedergeburtauf der Hand. Auch dieser Departmentof Anthropology,University of Calgary,Calgary, Symbolikist bereitsBachofen (1925 [1859]) im Detail nach- Alta., Canada T2N 1N4. 12 II 80 gegangen. Wreschnerperforms a valuable serviceand also leaves some- Es ist aber zu beachten,daB der Terminus((Ockerfarbung)) thingto be desired.In writinga longish-perhapsoverlong- und ((Ocker))nur zur allgemeinenKennzeichnung eines roten, article about an already ratherwell-known set of facts, he rotlichenoder gelben Farbstoffesdient. ChemischeAnalysen demonstratesonce more that the science of archeologylies haben nur sehr selten stattgefunden.Fur das Material aus withinthe realm of anthropology and is not,as somehave tried Grabernder Ockergrabkultur,die man in Ungarnuntersuchte, to make it, diggingthings out of the ground.Its essencelies in konntenachgewiesen werden, daB es sichum Hamatithandelte, theoreticalinterpretation of the materialsthemselves. Ideas, der in dem betreffendenGebiet iuberhauptnicht vorkommt, not things,are what countin our discipline.

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This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The somethingto be desiredconsists of threesorts of things: apply to the symbolsof abstract notions.For example,the 1. There shouldbe somethingmore concrete than a Frazer- conceptof "right"cannot be understoodwithout being related like enumerationof hintsabout the uses of red-the mythof to "wrong,"and the conceptof "moral neutralitv"cannot be the Maori woman,Durkheim's remark that "the blood coming comprehendedwithout reference to "right" and "wrong." If fromthe genitalorgans is especiallysacred," the mentionof a certainculture were to have visual symbolsof these three red dressesworn in marriageceremonies, etc. concepts,for instance, "white," "black," and "red," none of 2. Having shownthat red is archeologicallyas well as syn- these symbolscould possiblybe interpretedwithout reference chronicallysalient, he (or somebody)should again beginwork- to at least one of the othertwo. Hence, the syntagmaticrela- ingwhere Gladstone, Geiger, Magnus, Allen, Bucke, and other tionsbetween symbols on the same level of expressionmust be early workersin the field left off (see Heinrich 1978), i.e., taken into considerationin interpretingsymbols of abstract fillingthe gap (piotohistory)between archeology and ethnology. notions. 3. To complementa fascinationwith the emergenceof red, Accordingto Berlin and Kay (1969), no culture can be it would be interestingto collectand interpretevidence of the expectedto identifyonly one colour. There are at least two earlyoccurrences and theconsistent use ofother materials that coloursfor which any culturehas basic terms,white and black. are color-related. When thereis a thirdterm, it is always red. If we assume a consistencybetween the basic colour termsand the colours actuallyused in any culture,no societywill contentitself with by ANITA JACOBSON-WIDDING the use of red only. Furthermore,if we assume that cultures Departmentof CulturalAnthropology, University of Uppsala, with a few colour terms really mean somethingwith their Kungsangsgatan19, 75322 Uppsala, Sweden.13 III 80 choice of coloursfor identification,these few coloursmay be Wreschnerhas raised questionswhich call forjoint effortsby expected to play an importantrole as ritual symbolsor as anthropologists,physiologists, and psychologistsin orderto be devicesfor classification. Hence, thereis good reasonto believe answered.I shall confinemyself to some methodologicalcom- thatred is accompaniedby at least twomore colours whenever mentsfrom a structuralanthropological point of view. it is foundas a salientsymbol, as is the case with those early I have two main objectionsto Wreschner'sapproach to the culturesto whichWreschner refers. These othercolours should interpretationof thecolour red as a symbolin "early" cultures. be whiteand black. There is no reasonfor leaving them out of One is to his "phenomenological"view of red as a symbolof the analysisof the colour red as a symbolor fordisregarding blood. The otheris to his contentionthat this symbolcan be the relationsamong the threecolours. analyzedwithout reference to its relationswith other symbols on the same level of expression,that is, othercolours. Wreschnerinterprets the colour red as a symbolof blood. byTADEUSZ MALINOWSKI Nevertheless,he treatsit as a polysemicsymbol. Any "domi- Wy2szaSzkola Pedagogiczna,Zaklad Historii,Arciszewskiego nant symbol" (cf. Turner 1967:31) has varyingreferences in 22a, 76-200Slupsk, Poland. 5 iii 80 differentcontexts, even withinthe same culture.In the matri- Z duzymzainteresowaniem przeczytatem bardzo skrotowopo- lineal culturesof Central Africa,for instance, the colour red traktowanyartykul Wreschnera. Choc kwestiiznaczenia ko- may signifyfather, woman, man, mediator,certain categories lorow-zwlaszcza czerwieniwraz z jej odcieniami-poAwiecono of relatives(i.e., in-laws),rainbow, morning, birth, emotions, juz pokazn4 iloAc publikacji (a sam Wreschnerprzytacza sexualdesire, mystic power, transitory stages in ritesde passage, najistotniejszewnioski, jakie wysunietona ten temat),interes- etc., accordingto the situationand contextin whichit is used ju4co przedstawiasie sprawa mozliwoAcibardzo wczesnego (Jacobson-Widding1979). wykorzystywaniaochry. In order to serve as a public symbol,a polysemicsymbol Polskiematerialy archeologiczne stosunkowo pozno-w srod- must retain a general meaningwhich is common to all its kowej kulturze magdalenskiej-po?wiadczaj4 uzytkowanie varyingreferences. In the case of CentralAfrica, the general ochry: jej grudki,m.in. ze Aladamiscierania, znaleziono w meaningof red is connectedwith ambiguity.Red denotes JaskiniMaszyckiej. Jeszcze mlodsze-poznopaleolityczne,s4 anythingthat is feltto be "neitherone northe other"-neither natomiastdowody uzytkowania innego barwnika-hematytu. rightnor wrong, neither true nor false, neither "own clan" nor Jednakze,jak sie wydaje,znaczenie hematytu jako Arodkadla "strangerclan," neitherheaven nor earth, etc. It signifies uzyskiwaniakolorow czerwonopodobnych jest w tym czasie virtuallyeverything that defiesclassification according to the powazniejsze,niz znaczenieochry. Swiadczy o tymokolicznosc, a prioricriteria for demarcation of distinctcategories employed iz hematyt dobywano sposobem gorniczymw kopalniach by the peoples of thisregion. Since red is a symbolof indeter- odkrytychna polnocno-wschodnichstokach Gor Swietokrzy- minacyin a societywhich believes in a perfectlydetermined skich,zaA w rejonie jego eksploatacji wyst,puje niezwykle order,it has dynamicproperties and is connectedwith magical nagromadzeniesladow owczesnegoosadnictwa (Schild 1975: power. 325). Ziarna hematytuuzyskane we wskazanymrejonie byly If a polysemicsymbol retains the same general meaning czpAciowoprzerabiane na barwnikna miejscu, w czqAcizaA acrossits varyingreferences, it mustrepresent something more przenoszone przez wedruj4ce gromady ludzkie w odlegle abstractthan just anothertangible object, whether it be blood, okolice, co poAwiadczaj4jego znaleziska w obr,bie kilku milk,or excreta (cf. Turner 1967:88-89). Representingsome badanych stanowisk-obozowisk lowieckich. Najodleglejsze abstractnotion, the symbol must be interpretedwith considera- stanowisko,na ktorymnatrafiono na niewielkiezaglebienie tion forits relationswith othersymbols on the same level of wypelnionepylem hematytowym,usytuowane w zachodniej expression.Understanding of a symbolin isolationfrom other Polsce, jest polozone ok. 400 km w linii prostej od miejsca symbolsis possible only if the sign is regardedas an icon of eksploatacjitego mineralu. some concretephenomenon, such as blood. Blood is blood, Wydobywanie hematytu w kopalniach u podnoza Gor irrespectiveof its potentialrelations with milkor excreta.If, Swi,tokrzyskichtrwalo nadal w mezolicie,a takze w neolicie. however,a sign is viewed as a symbolof an abstractconcept Nadal tez-jak o tym swiadcz4 znaleziska z terenu osad- (cf. Langer 1953,Firth 1973), it cannotbe understoodwithout s1uzyl on do wyrobu barwnikowprzy uzyciu kamiennych referenceto its "syntagmaticneighbours." tluczkow i rozcieraczy,przy czym rowniez na obszarach An abstractnotion cannot be definedor even approximately znacznie oddalonych od rejonu eksploatacji (Wiseckowska focusedas a "fuzzyset" (ct. Kay and McDaniel 1978) without 1975:410; Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa1979: 82, 134). Jednakze beingrelated to at least one moreconcept-whether in terms najstarszypoch6wek z ziem polskich,mezolityczny, odkryty of opposition,comparison, or dependence.The same must w Janislawicach,mial jamsegrobow? zabarwion? ochr?, kt6r? Vol. 21 * No. 5 * October1980 637

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions posypanozwloki (Witckowska 1975:417). Analogicznyzwyczaj continuedto be producedas a dyestuffby using beatersand towarzyszyltez obrz4dkowipogrzebowemu niektorych plemion grinders,even in regionsat a considerabledistance from the neolitycznychrozmaitego w dodatku pochodzenia-kultur source (Wi,ckowska 1975:410; Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa ceramiki dolkowej i dolkowo-grzebykowej,wchodz4cych w 1979:82, 134). The oldest burial in Poland, discoveredat sklad krqgukultur subneolitycznych (Wisla'nski 1979:323, 331) Janislawiceand dated to the Mesolithic,had its pit-walls oraz w starszychi mlodszychkulturach wywodz4cych sie z tincturedwith the ochreused to sprinklethe corpse(Wi,ckow- krqgunaddunajskiego: w kulturzeceramiki wst,gowej rytej i w ska 1975:417). A very similarusage accompaniedthe funeral kulturze lendzielskiej (Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa1979:94, ritual among certainNeolithic tribes of differentorigin, be- 162). Do pierwszejz tychkultur naddunajskich nalezy rowniez longingto the SubneolithicPit-marked Pottery and the Comb- pochowekkobiety, trzymaj4cej w dioniach naczyniegliniane and-Pit-markedPottery cultures (WiAla'nski1979:323, 331) wypelnioneochr4. Zwyczaj barwieniazwlok-zapewne ochr4- and to earlierand later culturesoriginating in the Danubian byl takze znany niektorymneolitycznym plemionom z kr,gu cultural area, namely,the Linear Potteryand the Lengyel kulturowegoceramiki sznurowej, np. w kulturze zlockiej (Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa1979:94, 162). For example, the (Machnik 1979:382). Jednakze w wielu innych kulturach burial of a womanbearing in her hands a clay pot filledwith mlodszejepoki kamieniazwyczaj ten nie byl praktykowany- ochrebelongs to the firstof theseDanubian cultures.It seems brak bowiem sladow jakichkolwiekbarwnikow w niekiedy that the custom of dyeing-probably with ochre-mortal dosyclicznych grobach reprezentuj4cych te innekultury. remainswas practisedby certainNeolithic tribes belonging to W epoce br4zu i we wczesnej epoce zelaza brak jest na the orbitof the Corded Ware culture,for instance, the Ziota ziemiachpolskich zupelnie wyraznych Aladow uzywania barw- culture(Machnik 1979:382). Amongnumerous other cultures nikow w obrz4dkupogrzebowym, jednakze w kilku grobach of theNeolithic, however, there are no hintsat all whichwould cialopalnychoraz bez Aladupochowka (szkieletowy?) ludnoAci pointto thepresence of dye substancesin tombs. kulturyluzyckiej znajdowano grudki ochry oraz naczynie In the Age and Early Iron Age in Poland, tracesof wypetnioneczerwonym piaskiem (Malinowski 1962:88). the use of dye substancesin funeralceremonies are almost Z powyzszego zwi,zlego przegl4du polskich materialow completelvlacking, but in several cremationtombs and in archeologicznychzdaje sip wynikac,ze barwnikimineralne some tombswithout skeletal remains of the Lusatian culture czerwonopodobnebyly przez wiele spoArodpradziejowych therewere lumps of ochreand pots filledwith red sand (Mali- ludow,lecz przedewszystkim w starszej,srodkowej i mlodszej nowski1962:88). epoce kamienia.Ludy te s4 bardzozroznicowane pod wzgledem Summingup the above abbreviated sketch of the Polish pochodzenia, reprezentuj4 takze rozne formy gospodarki. archaeologicalrecord, we can conclude that reddishmineral Barwniki byly zaA wykorzystywanezarowno w obrz4dku colouringsubstances were used by many prehistoricpopula- pogrzebowym,jak i w innychprzejawach zycia (znaleziska z tions,mainly in the Early,Middle, and Late Stone Age. These terenuosad). Oproczochry duze znaczeniemial w tymzakresie populations differedconsiderably in origin and in form of takze hematyt. economy.Moreover, there is evidence that dyes were used Na marginesietego przegldu warto zasygnalizowac,ze not only in funeralritual, but in everydaylife. Besides ochre, najprawdopodobniejrowniez czerwone barwniki roslinne od- haematitehad markedsignificance. grywalyrole w rozmaitychzwyczajach ludow pradziejowych, Red vegetaldye substancesprobably played a considerable chocich slady s4 oczywiscienadzwyczaj trudne do uchwycenia. rolein thevarious customs of prehistoric populations. Of course, S4dz, tak na podstawie grobowego znalezienia owockow their traces are not easy to detect. My suppositionin this nawrotu lckarskiego(Lithospermum officinale L.) w okolicy matteris based on the gromwell(Lithospermum officinale L.) glowy jednego z nieboszczykownalei4cego do kulturylen- remainsfound near the head of the corpsein a tombascribed dzielskiej(Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa 1979:162-64), a takze w to the Lengyelculture (Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa 1979:162- zwi4zkuze znalezieniemowocow glogu (Crataegussp.) w kilku 64) and the hawthornfruits (Crataegus sp.) foundin several grobachcialopalnych ludnosci kultury pomorskiej z wczesnej cremationburials of tribesof the Early Iron Age Pomeranian epokizelaza (Luka 1971:72). culture(Luka 1971:72).] [I have read Wreschner'svery concise article with interest. Though a great numberof reportshave been devoted to the meaning of colours-especially of red and its shades-and byCLAUDE MASSET thoughWreschner himself cites the most essentialconclusions Laboraloirede Prehistoire,College de France,Place Marcelin- set forthin this matter,there is still anotherquestion which Berthelot,F-75005 Paris, France.29 I 80 interestsme, and that is the earliestuse of ochre. La plupart des colorantsutilises naguere,que ce soit pour The Polish archaeologicalrecord testifies to the use of ochre teindredes peaux, de la vannerie,des tissus,pour des peintures as earlyas the Middle Magdalenian;lumps of it bearingtraces corporelles,etc., etaientdes extraitsde plantes: sucs de baies of abrasionwere found in Maszycka Cave. Later, in the Late ou de racines,fueilles, fleurs, ecorces, plantes entieres,fer- Palaeolithic,there is evidenceof the use of anothercolouring menteesou non (a cetteliste ajoutons le charbonde bois). Les substance, haematite. It seems that during this period the pigmentsd'origine animale, comme la pourpreou la cochenille, significanceof haematiteas a sourceof reddishtints prevailed etaient moins repandus.Les colorantsmineraux etaient eux over that of ochre. In the northeasternHoly Cross (Swieto- aussi largementutilises, mais parfoispour des emploisun peu krzyskie)Mountains, haematite was extractedfrom primitive diffcrents:peinture proprement dite de surfacesrigides (parois mines,and tracesof settlementare exceptionallyabundant in rocheuses,maisons), et naturellementceramique. Pour ces usages the surroundingarea (Schild 1975:325). The haematitemined et bien d'autres,on se servaitbeaucoup de la gammedes ocres, in the regionwas partlyprocessed for dyestuff on the spot and et de minerauxapparentes comme I'hematite; moins souvent, partly transportedfar away by migratinggroups that left du noir bioxydede manganeseet de diversesargiles colorees. remainsof it in theirhunting camps, knownfrom numerous De tous ces colorants,quels sont ceux qu'un archeologue exploredsites. The farthestsite in whichhaematitic powder peut espererretrouver en fouillant?Un bien petit nombre. has been discoveredis in westernPoland, some 400 km from D'abord, la plupart sont biodegradables.Ensuite, le charbon the spot wherethis mineral was exploited. de bois,par exemple,est tropcommun pour qu'un archeologue The extractionof haematitefrom mines in the Holy Cross y voit spontanementautre chose qu'un dechetde combustion; Mountainswent on throughoutthe Mesolithicand farinto the quant au bioxyde de manganese,il lui ressembletrop pour Neolithic. Remains excavated in settlementstestify that it que nouspuissions croire que les fouilleursd'antan ont toujours

638 CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions su faire la distinction.La palette de l'art rupestrefranco- usingochre were few and far between,could, in fact, mislead cantabriqueest assez riche,mais de ces pigments'a l'utilisation the reader. We should not imagine,just because we findno specialisee,bien peu sont retrouvesdans les sitesde sepultures colorantsin a site,that the culturein questiondid not attach ou d'habitat. 11 est vrai qu'ils ont pu etre confondusavec les any importanceto colour: this would be to lose sightof the sediments,ou que des fouilleursn'en aient pas reconnu]'im- scarcityof the remainsin relationto the richnessof the past portance.Restent l'ocre et l'hematite. reality.For the same reason,the primacyof red may merely Je ne voudrais pas sous-estimerle travail fortinteressant be an optical illusion,simply reflectingthe fact that other auquel s'est livre Wreschnermais seulementrelativiser cer- colourshave disappeared.In moderncultures, as the author tainesde ses interpretations.Assurement, l'ocre frappeparfois says, black,white, red, green, yellow, and blue play important par son abondance;mais quand, a cote de gisementsriches en rolesin communicationsystems and in technology.There is no ocre,d'autres sites d'une memeculture prehistorique paraissent reasonto believethat the situation was otherwisein prehistoric ignorerles colorants,il est permis de se demander si nous times.] sommes reellement en presence d'un manque: peut-etre s'agissait-ilsimplement de colorantsrouges d'origine organique _ou meme d'autres couleurs,egalement organiques. Il est bySHERYL F. MILLER meme possiblequ'il ne s'agisse dans ce cas que subsidiairement Departmentof Anthropology,Pitzer College,Claremont, Ca. de couleur: l'ocre peut servir aussi a tanner les peaux (je 91711, U.S.A. 13 III 80 regretteque Wreschnern'ait 'a ce Une pense rappeler fait). Throughouthis discussion,Wreschner slights evidence from autre de ses selon au cours de la observations, laquelle, pre- sub-SaharanAfrica. For example, concerningupper Palaeo- histoire,les culturesutilisatrices d'ocre etaient minoritaires, lithicand morerecent times he states,"During most cultural pourrait,tout en etantjuste, induirele lecteuren erreur.Il ne stages-the Magdalenianand the NorthAmerican Archaic are faudraitpas, sous pretexteque nousne trouvonspas de colorant probablyan exception-ochreusers have been in theminority." dans une fouille,nous imaginerque la cultureinteressee faisait In fact,through a large part of sub-SaharanAfrica during the peu de cas des couleurs:ce seraitperdre de vue le peu de chose Later StoneAge ochreuse has been fairlycommon. It occursin que sont les vestiges par rapport a la richessedes realites many sites of the Nachikufanindustrial complex, a cultural defuntes.Pour la memeraison, la primautedu rougerisque de manifestationof woodedregions in southeasternAfrica lasting n'etrequ'une illusiond'optique, n'exprimant que la disparition in severalphases fromapproximately 18,000 years ago to the des autrescouleurs. Dans les culturesmodernes, ecrit l'auteur, past century.Ochre occurs in Nachikufansites in small lumps, le noir,le blanc, le rouge,le vert,le jaune et le bleu jouent un commonlyless than 3 cm maximumdimension. Frequently role importantdans les systemesde communicationet dans la these lumps exhibitsigns that the ochre was powdered by technologie.I1 n'y a pas de bonneraison de penserqu'il en ait rubbing;a flattenedface oftenshows parallel striationsfrom ete autrementa l'epoque prehistorique. the abrasion of the rubbingstone. Some ochre lumps have [Most ofthe colorants used in thepast, whether for dying skins, several such facets.Stones on whichthe ochrewas processed baskets, and fabrics,for body painting,etc., are extractsof also occur in Nachikufansites. It is even possible that some plants: juices of berries or of roots, leaves, flowers,barks, ochre lumps were used as crayons with which to produce whole plants, fermentedor unfermented(charcoal could be designsdirectly on cave and shelterwalls. NachikufuCave added to thislist). Pigmentsof animalorigin such as purpleor itselfcontains a well-preservedspecimen, a complexgeometric cochinealare less common.Mineral colorants were also widely designentirely in red. It is morelikelv, however, that pigments used, but oftenfor slightly different purposes: for the painting to be used in thismanner were first powdered and thenmixed of rigid surfaces(rock or house wall paintings,for instance) witha binderbefore being appliedto cave walls. AnotherLater and, of course,for ceramic articles. For these purposesand Stone Age culturalcomplex, the Wilton of southernAfrican many others, and related mineralssuch as hematite savannahregions, is famedfor its naturalistic art in polychrome. and, less frequently,black manganese dioxide and various Ochreand otherpigments were used. In contemporaneoussites typesof colouredclav wereused. in easternAfrica, rock art utilizingochre also occursin associa- Ofall thesecolorants, which ones can an archaeologistexpect tion withLater Stone Age artifacts. to findin an excavationsite? Very few. First of all, most of Wreschnerdevotes his closest attentionto uses of ochre them are biodegradable.Secondly, charcoal, for example, is associated with mortuarycustoms. Art, as indicated above, too commonfor the archaeologistto recognizeit immediately constitutesanother importantfunction for such pigments. as anythingother than the product of combustion;as for Wreschnerdismisses a furtherpossible use ofochre, body paint- manganesedioxide, it resemblescharcoal so closely that we ing, as "of secondaryinterest." It is true thatwe have few cannot imaginemany past excavators'being able to see the meansof testinghypotheses concerning prehistoric body paint- difference.The rangeof colours in Franco-Cantabrianrupestral ing.However, it is perhapsrelevant that the abundance of ochre art is fairlyrich, but not manyof the specializedpigments are in prehistoricsites generally increases along with archaeological foundin gravesor settlements.It is true that theycould have evidencefor other forms of personal decorationsuch as beads been confusedwith sediments or that the excavatorsmay not and pendants. have recognized their importance.This leaves ochre and hematite. I do not wish to underestimatethe very interestingwork byAVRAHAM RONEN Wreschnerhas but I like some of his done, would to place Departmentof Eretz-IsraelStudies, University of Haifa, Mt. interpretationsin perspective.Of course,ochre is strikingin Carmel,Haifa 31999,Israel. 7 III 80 its abundance;but whenwe findsome sitesrich in ochrewhile The verystimulating problem on whichthis articletouches- othersites of the same prehistoricculture appear to have no the use ofred ochreand its biologicalbasis-would also require colorantsat all, we should ask ourselveswhether this really an account of the reactionto colorsof animals endowedwith reflectsa lack in the latter:it may simplyreflect the use of red color vision. As it stands, the article consistsof citationsof colorantsof organicorigin-or even the use of other colors, anthropologistsand ethnographersand a concise worldwide also organicin origin.It is even possiblethat the questionof surveyof the archaeologicalrecord. Some of the informationin colourin thiscase is secondary:ochre can be used to leather the surveyis misleading.Thus, the numberof ochre-bearing (I'm sorry Wreschnerhas not thought to mention this). sitesper periodper regionought to be givenas a percentageof Anotherof his observations,namely, that prehistoriccultures the sitesexcavated; also, the definiteand clear-cutnumbers of

Vol. 21 No. 5 October1980 639 This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions sitesare difficultto acceptfor anyone who knows how dispersed fromnocturnal through crepuscular and into diurnalhabitats the archaeologicalinformation is. Such statisticsshould be would be exposedto increasingfrequencies of light.Herein, I precededby the qualification"very approximative"(cf. Del- have suggested (Stephenson 1973a), lies the basis for the porte 1979:214). If the use of red ochre is archaeologically differentialsalience of colors: black/white> red > yellow> documentedonly from the late Mousterian,what is theevidence green> blue. Thus it is changein color whichfrom the very that it was collectedin the "early middle" Mousterian?The outsethas servedto establishthe basis forboth perception and author suggeststhat Natufian burials accompanied by red meaning(Stephenson 1979a). The changesat dawn,of ripening, ochremay reflectstatus differences;why not earlieror later bleeding,molting, etc., are a few examples.In this respectI than the Natufian? would suggestthat changefrom bright (oxygenated) red blood The significanceof ochrein humanmental evolution has not to the earthybrown of coagulatedblood is naturallyassociated been grasped here. The oldest recordeduse of ochre-if ac- withdanger and death.The changefrom a dull lustreto bright cepted-does not implvthe oldestcategorization. This human red duringfiring or withthe additionof liquid mightlikewise traitis attestedby any repeatedmanufacture of stone imple- representlife. The reversal(to red or fromred with brown) ments,even the crudest.The characterizationof ochre,red or impliesthe life-deathdichotomy. anothercolor, took place withinthe domain of the spiritual, Symbolswhich change theirreferent when social contexts the nonutilitarian.How does this relate to the knowledgeof are alteredare termedmultivocal by Turner(1967). Red may death? To man's growingperception of his uniqueness?With- representone of the earliestmultivocal symbols. Interestingly, out theseaspects, ochre does notconstitute a case fordiscussion. when I compared the level of abstractionof color symbols (multivocalor unireferential)with their respectivelevels of abstractionin language (basic term or metonym)for five by RALPH SOLECKI cultureswith different-sized color vocabularies, I discoveredan Departmentof Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, almost exact correspondence(Stephenson 1973b). Only colors N.Y. 10027, U.S.A. 29 I 80 which were basic termswere also used multivocallyin the Wreschneris dealing fromthe outset with one of the most culturaldomain. In metonymicsituations, the meaningof the difficultproblems in archaeology,that of ideology, compounded symbolwas limitedto themeaning of theword used to describe by the added difficultyin tryingto assess cognitivelinks across it. I should also note that one society which intentionally diversestrains of hominidsfrom Homo erectusto H. sapiens eschewed the use of most color symbols as idolatrous (the neanderthalensisto H. sapiens sapiens. How can a modern Hutterites)sustained the use of red to representblood and to gauge forcolor preference be extrapolatedto H. erectusprefer- implylife and death (Stephenson1979b). ences? The assumptionmay be valid, but we'll never know. The transitionfrom limited to widespread utilizationof In any case, nowwe can be surethat early prehistoric man was ochrewhich Wreschner documents may be a usefulyardstick not color-blind.Wreschner makes no commentas to what forstudying the elaborationof language. Unlike flowers, shells, othercolor materials were available to earlyman. Admittedly, etc., whose colorsmay have been importantbut are likelyto it is very difficultto determinethe rangeof the color palette have been metonymic,ochre was mined,traded, refined, and fromprehistoric sites. The source materialfor the red ochre used in multiplecontexts. Thus the temptingspeculation arises and a shortreview of the mineralogygermane to the theme that Neanderthalsspoke and may have even had a basic color wouldbe helpfulto the nonspecialistreader. How muchof the termfor red. use ofred color in burialswas independentinvention or contact A fewcaveats: (1) The degreeof consensus as to themeaning or somethingelse can only be guessed.The occurrencesgiven of red on flagsmay reflectmore the meaningof flagsthan the appear to be withoutreal geographicallinks. Could it be that meaningof theirconstituent colors. (2) The factthat a body is the Levantineand NorthAfrican Palaeolithic and Epi-Palaeo- buried in ochre does not logicallymean that the ochre was lithicgroups, which reportedly used red pigmentson a much applied at death. For all we know,people may have painted smallerscale than theirEuropean counterparts,have simply themselveswhile theywere alive and merelyburied the dead been deprivedof sourcesof the material?Wreschner is to be as they were. Bowls of ochre could merelyrepresent future commendedfor tackling a most difficultsubject in prehistory, supplies of body paint for the afterworld.(3) Neanderthals and we are clearlyindebted to himfor this discussion. needn'thave spoken; they doubtlesscommunicated, but sign languagemight have been used (see Hewes 1973; Stephenson 1974, 1979c). by PETER H. STEPHENSON Departmentof Anthropology, University of Victoria,Victoria, B.C., Canada. 22 I 80 byLYNN L. THOMAS This is a veryinteresting collection of evidence, and Wreschner Departmentof Sociologyand Anthropology,Pomona College, is to be congratulatedfor bringing it all togetheras well as for Claremont,Ca. 91711, U.S.A. 7 iii 80 approachingcolor symbols as phenomenaat the nexus of In his interestingand usefuildiscussion, Wreschner does not linguistic,cultural, and biological approaches.Assaying pre- minimizethe problemsof inferenceand interpretationinvolved historyto clarifythese relationshipsis both ambitious and in tryingto understandthe nature and rolesof prehistoric ochre necessary.Like Wreschner,I agree with Bornstein,Kessen, use, but moreclarification of two issuesmay be possible. and Weiskopf(1977) thathuman beings are "wired"to perceive First,Wreschner mentions the rarity(save in the Magdale- segmentallythe psychophysically distinct chroma (red, yellow, nian and North AmericanArchaic) and uneven archeological green, and blue). Macaques have been used to study the evidence of ochre. Do the inferentialproblems concerning neurologicalunderpinnings of color response because their evidence of use and dating preclude distributionalanalyses hue-discriminationcurves are nearly identical to those of (e.g., distributionin space and time, analysis of association humans.This researchreveals that within the lateral geniculate withother artifacts)? Wreshner gives the impression that either nucleus cells respondto wavelengthsdifferentially: the most the evidencedoes not warrantmuch of such analysisor he is generalizedresponse is to brightness,and particular cells not verymuch interested in doingit. Are the data just too few? change(either increase or decrease)rates of firing when exposed Are thereno patterns? to red, green,yellow, or blue (Devalois, Abramov,and Jacobs Second, can the conceptsconcerning cognition, perception, 1966). Because the atmosphereis saturatedwith long wave- use, and symbolicattribution be sharpened?For example,with lengthlight at dawnand dusk (Herzberg1965), species moving regardto the twolumps of red ochrefound in BKIJ at Olduvai,

640 CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Wreschnerargues that "we are hereconfronted with evidence byHEINRICH ZOLLINGER of a social actionprobably stimulated by the capacityfor color EigdenossischeTechnische Hochschule, 8092 Zurich,Switzer- categorization."He then asks: "Do we have here the first land. 19 II 80 evidenceof a capacity for perceptivecolor categorization?" As Wreschnerhas noted,Berlin and Kay (1969) have demon- He seems to answer the question affirmatively.What seems strated clearly in a cross-culturallinguistic study that the problematicalhere is the placingof significanceon perceptual simplestcolor lexicon contains words for black and whiteonly. categorizationper se, howeverspecified (the sociologyof the A word forred is then added, followedby wordsfor yellow, ochreuse is anothermatter). For one thing,it is highlylikely green,blue, etc. With the help of color-namingtests, we have that bare perceptualabilities in regardto reddishcolors long shown(von Wattenwyland Zollinger1979, Zollinger 1979, and preceded BKII at Olduvai in hominid phylogenesis.This earlierpapers) thatthis sequence is relatedto a neurobiological notionshould be indirectlytestable in the case of nonhuman basis, namely,Hering's opponent-colorscheme. This scheme primates(cf. Kay and McDaniel 1978). What seems moreat predicts,however, only the dominanceof black, white, red, issue-and the more interestingquestion-concerns the pat- yellow,green, and blue relative to other , not theirse- terns of uses and the involvementof cognitive(and social) quence.A linguisticbasis forthe color sequence can be foundin constructionsin uses, whetherour concernis with significant Jakobson(1968 [19411),as I have recentlypointed out (1979). discontinuitiesor continuitiesin human evolution or with Jakobsonshowed that the development of language in the child panspecificor variablepatterning, say, in the later part of the takes place in a regular sequence; he also recognizedclose record.The associationsof reddish ochre with mortuary customs relationshipsbetween speech sounds and color perception, and the inferencesconcerning meanings (e.g., those involving arguingthat sounds are chromaticin differentdegrees, a, for lifeand death,blood and danger),even if not earlyattestations example,being most chromaticamong the vowels and least of "color preference,"are the more interesting.What sorts, affectedbv the light-darkopposition. That soundsare psycho- then,of cognitiveand social capacities underliesuch specific logicallyrelated to the perceptionof color had already been constructionsof meaning?Constancies in perceptionmay well recognizedearly in this century,e.g., by K6hler and Stumpf, be involved; categorizationand recognitionare certainlyin- but the specificrecognition that the developmentof sounds volved (and the latterwould seem, in Wreschner'susage, to be parallelsthat of colors is Jakobson's:a as theprimary chromatic impliedby the former).But how,and in relationto what?Do vowelis symbolizedby red,as variousanalyses of psychological the ochrecolors have the meaningsattributed to them,either sensationshave demonstrated.My correlationof Jakobson's originallyor afterthe fact,in a given settingbecause of the ontogeneticinvestigation of child language with the cross- similaritiesto othercolors, e.g., thatof blood?Or do theyhave culturallinguistic results of Berlinand Kay on colorterms fits theseattributes because of particular hue-saturation-brightness well intoWreschner's phylogenetic discussion of the role of red values? Are thereinteractive or additive effectsof these?One ochrein humanevolution. lead is providedby Berlin and Kay, Sahlins,and D'Andrade It may be added that Williams's(1976) investigationof the and Egan. Sahlins argues that the strongcross-cultural regu- metaphoricaluse ofadjectives related to thefive senses parallels laritiesin attributionsof foci of the basic color categoriesof the biologicalevolution of the senses,i.e., theirphylogenetic Berlinand Kay are understandableon the basis of saturation, developmentin animals and man, the visual and acoustic given hue. D'Andrade and Egan notice that "the emotional senses being the most highlydeveloped (see Zollinger1979). associationsusuallv foundwith 'color' do not seem to be due This allows an-admittedly speculative-extrapolationto pe- primarilyto the actual hue, or lightwavelength, involved but riodseven earlierthan 500,000years ago. to the degreeof saturationand brightness"(1974:62). In the light of the Berlin and Kay argumentsand evidence to the effectthat thereis considerablecross- as well as intracultural Reply variationin nonfocal attributions (see also Kay and McDaniel 1978), the questionbecomes, first, What are the rangesof the byERNST E. WRESCHNER ochreand ochre-derivedcolors, especially brightness and satu- Haifa, Israel. 2 v 80 ration (and controllingfor effectsof wear-and-tearon the It is encouragingto observe that the responsesto my short archeologicalspecimens)? Then, are the ochremeanings to be paperopen a firstround in an interdisciplinarycritical appraisal interpretedas associatedwith "redness" per se (whichpercep- of red colorfinds in archaeologicalcontexts. The similarques- tual aspectsthereof?), and, ifso, is it focalred, or do the ochre tionsraised and the similarsuggestions concerning the validity "call to mind"focal red, or is it saturationand brightness of the archaeologicalevidence and the roleof colorsother than alone?Or are theochre meanings to be interpretedas associated red in past humanbehavior illustrate the need fora methodo- withother aspects of ochrecolor or material(e.g., texture?)or logical approach to the topic and an understandingof its such thingsas saliencein theenvironment and similarityto the inherentobjective limitations.It must be stressedthat it is colorof blood? the color red that is the focus of my discussion,and here it Such questionsas thesemight lead Wreschnerto reconsider becomesquite obvious that the term "ochre" can be misleading. theappropriateness of his dismissalof Sahlins,who does indeed I thereforefind Butzer's observations important. While reflect- espousea relational-but not merelyrelational-point of view. ing an understandablehesitation to elaborateon the implica- However the above questionsare answered,it becomesclear tions of red color materialsin early Palaeolithic sites (the that the dismissalof Sahlinsis neitherimplied nor particularly presence of which is an archaeologicalfact), they tend to suggestedby Wreschner'sevidence and arguments.The ques- throwout the baby withthe bath. I agree that "ochre" is not tionsalso requireour askingif we have hereto do withbiology a satisfyingor accurate term for a variety of red-colored beingpurely and simply"at theroot of humancolor behavior" materialsof mineralorigin. What is important,however, is or rather with relativelycomplex constructionsof reality their intentionalcollection because of their color. Whether (apologiesto Bergerand Luckmann1966) whichmay (or may red-coloredminerals were collected by earlyhuman beings out not) be similarbecause of the modesof manipulationand the ofcuriosity, whether their properties were discovered by chance, concernsof the attributorsof meaning.The same sorts of whetherthe use of red pigmentwas inventedat differenttimes questions,it would seem,need to be asked concerningnotions in differentplaces by differentpeoples or diffusedby contact, of death, danger,and the like. But, as D'Andrade and Egan it seemsthat the color attractedman because it could be en- put it, a metaphoricdarkness descends, a darknessin thiscase dowed withmeaning. Therefore finds of red objects,whether compoundedby antiquity. archaeologistshave termed them ochre or not, are fossil

Vol. 21 No. 5 October1980 641

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions indicatorsof human behaviorwhenever their intentional col- incisionson bone and stone are astonishing.Utterances and lection can be established.A reddishsiltstone "collected for movements,an integralstructural part of ancientritual and curiositypurposes," as Butzer concedes,is thereforeno less symbolism,remain forever hidden. I believe that the salience significantthan the 75 pieces of partly or thoroughlyfired of red forman and the patternand scope of its persistencecan limonitereported by de Lumley at Terra Amata or the red and shouldbe observedthrough a diachronicapproach to their pigmentsfrom later prehistoric sites that he does acknowledge. synchronicmanifestations in the archaeological contexts- Further,though Howell mav have mistakena natturalfracture somethinglike a chronological-stratigraphicrecording of red on thereddish siltstone at Ambronafor an indicationof probable color phenomena,which enables us to observeregularities in rubbing,it is the presenceof the siltstoneand its findcircum- specificsituations. Ethnography thus constitutes the "youngest stancesthat are important.The same criteriaapply to Castillo level" and cannotbe ignoredas Delporte thinksit should. and the sub-SaharanMiddle Stone Age sites. The frequency The questionsformulated by Thomas are ofprime importance of red pigmentsin the lattermay have a bearingon the claims for a discussionof ochre practices.I do not, as he reports, forthe antiquityof hematiteand specularitemining in Swazi- dismissSahlins; I simplyobject to Sahlins's conclusionthat land reportedby Boshierand Beaumont(1972) and Beaumont, recognizingplays no role at all. Thomas argues that Sahlins's de Villiers,and Vogel (1978). Beaumont has informedme of pointof view is "not merelyrelational." I agree that this can the pronouncedscarcity of colorantsin the Acheulian sites be observedin his reasoning,but thismakes his conclusionall precedingthose of the Middle Stone Age. To accept the the morequestionable. I interpretthe evidenceas pointingto intentionalpresence of ochrein later prehistoricsites only and an interactionof recognizingand relating. to concludethat "perhaps a majorityof the claims forochre It is knownthat primateshave color vision.Identifying an in particulararchaeological associations are inconclusiveor orangeor redfruit or otherfeature against a notmonochromatic simplywrong" is a positionthat has yet to be justified. backgroundcan be seen as of selectivevalue. Reactionsto hue, Delporteadvocates the gathering of "objectiveinformation," brightness,and saturation may have become decisive for and I agree. Controlledexperiments with ferruginated shales, categorisationand relating,as Stephenson'sand Zollinger's sandstones,and sesquioxide-richclays should be performedto contributionsindicate. find out if these materialsyield results similar to those of The wealth of ideas offeredby Bolton and his intriguing water-dissolvedor fat-mixedpowdered hematite and fired reasoningon relevant aspects of ochre practices make his limonite,which produce, according to my experience,a smooth, response a valuable complementarypaper for discussion.I homogeneouspaste that adhereswell to wood,bone, and skin. cannot do justice to it here,but I would like to make a few Relevant pioneeringwork has been done by Couraud and remarkson his observationson the use of red ochre in the Laming-Emperaire(1979) with colorants of mineral origin contextof death. Of course, we cannot know what specific used in Palaeolithicrock art. We need to learnmore about the beliefswere involvedin the use of red ochre in the mortuary behavior of red mineral pigments under the influenceof customsof ancienthunters, pastoralists, and farmers.We call percolatingwater in subsoilsand about the influenceof ochre- them primitivereligion and, out of some deep compulsion, stainedsoils and the extentof theirresponsibility for staining speculateabout theirorigins. Ochre practicesmight be inter- artifactsand bones. We need to know more about the causes preted as a defianceof death. For these ancient humans, of the red coloringon the edgesof flinttools and the red traces however,death was perhaps or probably not the "ultimate on stoneand bone leftby ochre-relatedhuman activities. I am fact,"but a transformationor transfigurationto anotherstate, currentlyengaged in some experimentsof thissort, and I hope anotherreality. Red may have been conceivedas containing that other appropriatestudies will soon be undertaken.One the power (or being the power) of ensuringlife. In many relevantexamination of color traces on Magdalenian scrapers primitivesocieties, red ochreand red thingsare conceivedas is that of Rosenfeld(1972). powerfulmedicines against disease and death, but they are Now to the questionof otherthan red pigmentsin archaeo- equally thoughteffective in ensuringlife afterdeath. (Those logical contexts:To my knowledge,manganese oxide has been opposed to the citationof ethnographicexamples will, I hope, foundin Mousterianand laterlevels. Apart from its occurrence forgiveme forthis remark.)We modernsfind it difficult,but in rockart, we have no indicationsof its probableuse. Charcoal not impossible,to constructand to accept other realities. mighthave servedto produceblack coloring, but thiscan hardly Playing "as if" is not confinedto children.In substantial be determined.Lumps of white clay foreignto the site have numbers,modern humanity still does not accept the ultimate been retrievedfrom an Aurignacianlayer at Hayonim Cave in fact of death as nonexistence. Israel,a laverrich in redochre pieces and ochre-coatedgrinding To speak of "man's growingperception of his uniqueness"in stonesand palettes.Green malachite and antimony(black) are connectionwith ochre, as Ronen does, is inappropriate.I knownfrom Dynastic strata and supposed to have been used noticealso that his conclusionthat I have failedto grasp the forcosmetic purposes. significanceof ochrein humanmental evolution is not shared The ochre-derivedcolor shades are dull red tending to by the othercommentators. reddish-brown,the colorof driedor coagulatedblood, whereas Finally,I did notclaim that the numbers of sites in mypaper cinnabar (mercurysulfide) produces a brightred very much were definiteand accountedfor all the knownochre finds.I like the color of freshblood. Cinnabar appears in mortuary am thereforegrateful to Hausler and Malinowskifor their customs and in the painting of shrines in later Neolithic additional informationand references.Such informationis contextsonly, and the earliest evidencefor cinnabar mining needed forthe furtherstudies that I hope will be undertaken comesfrom the late Neolithic.Evidence forplant-derived and as a resultof our discussion. perishablered colorantsis lackingin prehistoricsites. The examinationof red in its relationshipswith other colors recommendedby Bolton and Jacobson-Widdingcannot be undertakenon thebasis ofarchaeological evidence. Archaeology ReferencesCited cannotprovide the means to reconstructcolor relationships in BACHOFEN, J. J. 1925 (1859). 2d edition. Versuchilber die Griaber- past symbolicstructures as ethnographydoes in presentones. symbolikder Alten. Basel: Helbing und Lichtenhahn. [AH] However, archaeologymay be able to reveal the linkage of BAR-YOSEF, 0., and J. L. PHILLIPS. 1977. Prehistoricinvestigations in GebelMaghara, northernSinai. Qedem (Hebrew University,Jeru- various structuralelements in ochre-relatedritual and sym- salem) 7. bolismas earlyas the late Middle Palaeolithic.The similarity BEAUMONT, P. B., H. DE VILLIERS, and J. C. VOGEL. 1978. Modern and persistenceof such elementsas shells,animal teeth,and man in Sub-Saharan Africaprior to 49,000 years B.P.: A review

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Black, white,and red all over: The riddle of rolniczena ziemiachpolskich: Kulturykrggu naddunajskiego," in color termsalience. Ethnology17:287-311. [RB] Prahistoriaziem polskich. 2. Neolit,pp. 19-164.Wroclaw-Warszawa- BOLTON, RALPH, and DIANE CRISP. 1979. Color termsin folktales:A Krak6w-Gdanisk:Ossolineum. [TM] cross-culturalstudy. BehaviorScience Research 14:231-53. [RB] LANGER, SUSANNE. 1953. Feelingand form: A theoryof art. New York: BOLTON, RALPH, ANNE CURTIS, and LYNN L. THOMAS. n.d. Nepali Scribner. [AJW] color terms: Salience on a listing task. Journal of the Steward LAUGHLIN, S. 1967. "Human migrationand permanentoccupation AnthropologicalSociety. In press. [RB] in the Bering Sea area," in The Bering land bridge.Edited by BORNSTEIN, M. H., W. KESSEN, and S. WEISKOPF. 1976. The cate- D. M. Hopkins, pp. 409-50. Stanford:Stanford Universitv Press. goriesof hue in infancy.Science 191:201-2. LEACH, E. 1976. "Color symbolism,"in Cultureand communication. BOSHIER, A., and P. B. 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Vol. 21 No.N 5 * October1980 643 This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:31 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TURNER,V. W. 1967. The forestof symbols:Aspects of Ndembu WILLIAMS, JOSEPH M. 1976. Synaestheticadjectives: A possible law ritual.Ithaca and London: CornellUniversity Press. of semanticchange. Language52:461-78. [HZ] . 1969. The ritualprocess. Chicago: Aldine. WITKOVSKI, S. R., and C. H. BROWN. 1977. An explanationof color VANDERMEERSCH,B. 1969. Decouverte d'un objet en ocre avec nomenclatureuniversals. American Anthropologist 79:50-57. traces d'utilisationdans le Mousteriende Qafze, Israel. Bulletin WILAN~SKI, T. 1979. "Kr4g ludow subneolitycznychw Polsce," in de la SocietePrehistorique Francaise 66:157-58. Prahistoria ziem polskich.2. Neolit, pp. 319-36. Wroclaw-War- VONWATTENWYL, ANDRE, and HEINRICHZOLLINGER. 1979. Color- szawa-Krak6w-Gdaihsk:Ossolineum. [TM] term salience and neurophysiologyof color vision. American WRESCHNER, E. E. 1976a. The potentialsignificance of the pebbles Anthropologist81:279-88. [RB, HZ] with incisions and cupmarks from the Yarmukian of Sha'ar- WALLIS,W. D. 1939. Religionin primitivesociety. New York: Crofts. Hagolan, Israel. Bulletinde la SocieteRoyale Belge d'Anth/ropologie WEITMAN,S. R. 1973. National flags: A sociological overview. et de Prehistoire87:157-66. Semiotica8:328-67. . 1976b.The red hunters. CURRENTANTHROPOLOGY 17:717-19. WIJECKOWSKA,H. 1975. "Spoleczno?ci lowiecko-rybackiewczesnego ZOLLINGER, HEINRICH. 1979. Correlationsbetween the neurobiology holocenu," in Prahistoriaziem polskich.1. Paleolit i mezolit,pp. of colour vision and the psycholinguisticsof colour naming. 339-438. Wroclaw-Warszawa-Krak6w-Gdainsk:Ossolineum. [TM] Experientia35:1-8. [HZ]

IndigenousAnthropology in Non-Western Several recentdevelopments have made the explorationof thistheme timely. Many of the countriesthat previouslycon- Countries: A FurtherElaboration' stitutedfavorable settings for Westernanthropologists' field- workhave becomepolitically sensitive developing nations. As a result,they have set restrictionson foreignanthropological byHUSSEIN FAHIM and KATHERINE HELMER research, while vigorouslyencouraging indigenous anthro- Departmentof Anthropology,University of Utah, Salt Lake pologiststo conduct researchrelevant to nationallydefined City,Utah 84112/Departmentof Anthropology,State Univer- developmentalgoals. Expandingcadres of local social scientists sityof New York,Binghamton, N.Y. 13902,U.S.A. 6 x 79 are currentlyconducting fieldwork "untainted" by nationalist [we]have to remind ourselves that anthropology does not merely appre- accusationsof imperialist and colonialconnections. Some speak hendthe world in whichit is located,but the world also determines how of "decolonializing"anthropology (Maquet 1964,Stavenhagen anthropologywill apprehend it. 1971), whileothers are developingnew conceptsand method- TALAL ASAD, Anthropologyand the Colonial Encounter ologies for the practice of indigenousresearch (Nash 1975, Fahim 1976). In responseto a preliminarystatement of intentionfrom the Parallel to the growthof indigenousanthropology in the organizerand a letter of invitationfrom the sponsor,the Westernanthropologists, especially in the Wenner-GrenFoundation for AnthropologicalResearch, 20 Third World,many are to domesticsocial interestsand participantsfrom 17 countries2met at Burg Wartenstein, United States, turning be seenas a copingwith Austria,July 15-24, 1978,to presentpapers and discussissues problems.While this trend may way of relatedto indigenousanthropology in non-Westerncountries. the difficultiesof overseasresearch, unfavorable domestic job and academicresearch budgets, there is a lively The term"indigenous anthropology" was proposedas a work- markets, tight in the United ing conceptreferring to the practiceof anthropologyin one's and creativeindigenous anthropology developing Arens and native country,society, and/or ethnic group. The label "non- States (e.g., Spradley 1970, Montague 1976). we have some foreshadowingof the advances that Western"was conceivedas appropriatefor the purposeof this "Already when whohave workedin other symposiumbecause anthropology had originatedand developed may takeplace anthropologists to our Americanand in a Westernintellectual, economic, and political milieu and countriesturn their thinking large-scale and theirassociated institutions"(Colson theincreasing number of anthropologists trained and operating European societies outsidethis tradition has raisednew issues within the discipline. 1976:268). In thisperiod of rethinking, reviving, and reassessinganthro- pology,the disciplinehas recentlybegun to examinethe field- 1 ?-"1980 by The Wenner-GrenFoundation for Anthropological Research 0011-3204/80/2105-0002$02.00.These commentsexpand workprocess and to questionresults on the basis of methods on a briefreport of the conferencepublished in CA 20:397. and techniques. Anthropologistsin the United States, for 2 The conferencewas the resultof the initiativeand cooperationof instance,are publishingaccounts of theirfieldwork experience manyindividuals. The selectionof participantswas guided by a con- and procedures(e.g., Freilich 1970, Wax 1971, Foster and cern fora wide range of regionalrepresentation, academic training, Kemper1974). The experiencesof non-Western anthropologists, intellectualperspectives, and age. Four participantscame fromthe to be investigated.Third World fieldsof sociology,psychology, and linguistics.A graduate student however,remain adequately served as rapporteur.The participantsand theirinstitutional affili- anthropologistsmust be givenan equal opportunityto report ations are as follows:Soraya Altorki(American University in Cairo), on the state of anthropologyand fieldworkexperiences within JohnBarnes (ChurchillCollege, Cambridge), Michael Cernea (World theirlocal settings. Bank), Yehudi Cohen (Rutgers), Elizabeth Colson (Universityof the fundamental of the anthro- California,Berkeley), Jean Cuisenier (Musee National des Arts et Many argue that premises Traditions Populaires), Hussein Fahim (Universityof Utah), Epeli pological enterpriseare, or should be, the same regardlessof Hau'ofa (Nuku'alofa, Tonga), Katherine Helmer (State University the identityof the researcheror the locus of investigation. of New York, Binghamton),Mubanga E. Kashoki (Universityof Nonetheless,the underlyingassumption in this workingcon- Zambia, Ndola Campus), Herbert C. Kelman (Harvard), Koent- of anthropology"is thata changein theactor jaraningrat(Komplex UniversitasIndonesia), T. N. Madan (Insti- cept "indigenous tute of Economic Growth,Delhi), Luiz R. B. Mott (Universidade (i.e., local in lieu of foreign)implies a change in the anthro- Estadual de Campinas), Nader AfsharNaderi (Iranian Institutefor pologist'srole and perspective.Methodologies may change from Peasant and Rural Studies), Chie Nakane (Universityof Tokyo), one setting to another, but anthropologyin Third World Carlos Buitrago Ortiz (Universityof Puerto Rico), Lita Osmundsen (Wenner-GrenFoundation for AnthropologicalResearch), Robert countriesmay also requirea "set of theoriesbased on non- Petersen(Institute for Eskimology, Denmark), Gunnar Sorbo (Uni- Westernprecepts and assumptionsin the same sense that versityof Bergen), and Arturo Warman (Universityof Mexico). modernanthropology is based on and has supportedWestern The participantsextend their gratitude to Lita Osmundsenand the entire castle staff,in particular the director,Karl Frey, and the beliefsand values" (Jones 1970:251). The concept of native symposiumsecretary, Kristina Baena. anthropology,as proposedby Jones,clearly identifies the re-

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