An Early Case of Color Symbolism: Ochre Use by Modern Humans in Qafzeh Cave The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Hovers, Erella, Shimon Ilani, Ofer Bar#Yosef, and Bernard Vandermeersch. 2003. “An Early Case of Color Symbolism: Ochre Use by Modern Humans in Qafzeh Cave.” Current Anthropology 44 (4) (August): 491–522. Published Version doi:10.1086/375869 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12211574 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Current Anthropology Volume 44, Number 4, August–October 2003 ᭧ 2003 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved 0011-3204/2003/4404-0003$3.50 the evolution of symbolic behavior and of human cognition and consciousness, and the archaeology of the Late Pliocene and An Early Case of early Pleistocene. shimon ilani is a researcher in the Geological Survey of Is- rael. His main interests are petrography, mineralogy, and Color Symbolism geochemistry. ofer bar-yosef is a professor in the Department of Anthro- pology at Harvard University. He is interested in the cultural se- quence of the Middle Paleolithic, the demise of the Neandertals, the emergence of Upper Paleolithic entities, and the Neolithic Ochre Use by Modern Humans revolution in the Near East. 1 bernard vandermeersch, now retired, was a professor of in Qafzeh Cave physical anthropology at the University of Bordeaux. He is inter- ested in human evolution, particularly in the issues of Neander- tals and modern humans and their cultural and environmental by Erella Hovers, Shimon Ilani, context. Ofer Bar-Yosef, and The present paper was submitted 1ix02and accepted 9x02. For many researchers the ability to create arbitrary re- Bernard Vandermeersch lationships between ideas and their referents—that is, to construct and use complex symbolic systems—is the de- fining characteristic of Homo sapiens. Biologists, cog- nitive scientists, and philosophers address questions about the origins and functions of these higher cognitive Prehistoric archaeology provides the temporal depth necessary for understanding the evolution of the unique human ability to abilities. In this context, it is prehistoric archaeology that construct and use complex symbol systems. The long-standing provides information about the time frames and tem- focus on language, a symbol system that does not leave direct poral depth involved in these evolutionary processes. evidence in the material record, has led to interpretations based Thus archaeologists are constantly searching for early on material proxies of this abstract behavior. The ambiguities re- sulting from this situation may be reduced by focusing on sys- manifestations of symbolic behavior in the prehistoric tems that use material objects as the carriers of their symbolic record. contents, such as color symbolism. Given the universality of Language, considered the most complex symbol sys- some aspects of color symbolism in extant human societies, this tem used by H. sapiens, is often the focus of discussion article focuses on the 92,000-year-old ochre record from Qafzeh in the various disciplines which aim to understand hu- Cave terrace to examine whether the human capacity for sym- bolic behavior could have led to normative systems of symbolic man symbolism. Unfortunately, the prehistoric record of culture as early as Middle Paleolithic times. Geochemical and nonliterate societies by definition cannot contain direct petrographic analyses are used to test the hypothesis that ochre evidence for the existence of language, an abstract entity. was selected and mined specifically for its color. Ochre is found In the absence of such evidence, archaeologists construct to occur through time in association with other finds unrelated to mundane tasks. It is suggested that such associations fulfill ever-broadening tiers of interpretation, attempting to the hierarchical relationships that are the essence of a symbolic recognize material proxies for language in the archaeo- referential framework and are consistent with the existence of logical record and to infer from them the cognitive fac- symbolic culture. The implications of these findings for under- ulties that underlie them. Indeed, many of the debates standing the evolution of symbolic culture in the contexts of the in the recent archaeological literature on the evolution African and Levantine prehistoric records are explored. of modern behavior and symbolism stem from disagree- erella hovers is a lecturer in the Institute of Archaeology, ments among researchers about such inferences. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem There is a solution to this conundrum. Ethnographic 91905, Israel [[email protected]]). Her fields of interest in- evidence suggests that in many societies there exist sym- clude Middle Paleolithic lithic technology and human ecology, bolic networks in which material objects are the sym- bols. Among these, symbolic color systems are wide- 1. Excavations of the Mousterian deposits at Qafzeh Cave in the spread and shared by many societies. If similar systems years 1965–73 and 1977–79 were sponsored by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The petrographic, chemical, and mineralogical existed in the prehistoric past, it would make sense for analyses reported in this study were carried out in the geochemical archaeologists to identify and study them directly laboratories of the Geological Survey of Israel with the help of Y. through their preserved material manifestations rather Deutsch and O. Yoffee. Geological fieldwork was conducted with than speculating about the meanings of material objects the help of E. Zilberman. The geological map of the Qafzeh area (in the electronic edition of this issue) and figure 9 were drawn by for understanding the evolution of language. N. Sharagai and S. Hoyland. J. Skidel-Rhymer made the drawings A rich prehistoric record of pigment use indicates that of lithic artifacts, and the photographs were taken by G. Laron at red and black pigments are relatively ubiquitous in Pa- the Institute of Archaeology. We thank A. Belfer-Cohen and J. Speth, leolithic habitation and quarry sites, from the Plio/Pleis- as well as six diligent reviewers, for their comments and useful suggestions on previous drafts of this paper. [Supplementary ma- tocene to Upper Paleolithic (Late Stone Age) times (Bar- terials appear in the electronic edition of this issue on the journal’s ham 1998; Bednarik 1992b; Bordes 1952; d’Errico and web page (http://www.journals.uchicago/edu/CA/home.html).] Soressi 2002; Henshilwood et al. 2001, 2002; Marshack 491 This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Tue, 20 May 2014 23:31:02 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 492 F current anthropology Volume 44, Number 4, August–October 2003 1981, 1989; McBrearty and Brooks 2000; Solecki 1982; These allow the recognition of higher-order regularities, Watts 1999; Wreschner 1983). There is an increase over which in turn enable symbolic predictions. This process time in the frequency of pigment occurrence in the pre- facilitates the construction (learning) of symbols and historic record, but although it occurs at different times their deconstruction and use (interpreting them and thus in different regions, in general it can be placed in the communicating through them). context of the Middle Stone Age/Middle Paleolithic in Of all the symbolic behaviors in which H. sapiens en- Africa and in Europe, respectively. It is therefore within gages, language is judged the most complex and consid- this time period that we look for indications of the use ered a unique trait of the species (e.g., Deacon 1997). of pigments in a symbolic rather than a utilitarian con- Because it is an adaptation that confers enormous ad- text. In this paper we examine the ochre finds from the vantages on its bearers, its antiquity and the paleobiol- Middle Paleolithic deposits of Qafzeh Cave, Israel, and ogical and archaeological evidence that may indicate its evaluate the possibility that their occurrence was related existence have been the focus of intense research. The to the operation of a symbolic cultural system. origins of language have been placed as early as 2 million Humans today routinely engage in symbolic behavior. years ago (Deacon 1989, 1990, 1997) and as late as the It is often a premeditated activity with symbols at its Late Pleistocene (e.g., Klein 1995, 2000; Lieberman 1991; core (e.g., the playing of national anthems at formal re- Mellars 1996; Mithen 1996; Noble and Davidson 1996). ceptions for heads of states). In more mundane contexts, Language is the most powerful but not the only symbol encoded information about socioeconomic status may system known to us. This observation is pertinent to be emitted purposefully by one’s fashion statements or archaeologists’ efforts to recognize symbolism. Too often unconsciously by one’s table manners, whereas the discussion of the origins and antiquity of language in the poster of a rock star symbolizes her to people who have archaeological literature has been conflated with dis- never met her. And yet, although symbolic behavior cussion of the symbolic meanings of objects. Much of takes place all around us, understanding it is not simple the debate