Earliest Homo sapiens exhibited unexpected sophistication

[Judi Lynn]

MARCH 15, 2018 / 4:30 PM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO

Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On a grassy African landscape, some of the earliest members of our species, Homo sapiens, engaged in surprisingly sophisticated behaviors including using color pigments, creating advanced tools and trading for resources with other groups of people.

Those findings were reported on Thursday by scientists who examined artifacts dating from 320,000 years ago unearthed in southern Kenya, roughly the same age as the earliest-known Homo sapiens fossils discovered elsewhere in Africa.

The researchers found abundant evidence of long-distance transfer of obsidian to the Olorgesailie Basin location from sites up to 55 miles (88 km) away over rugged terrain, leading them to believe it was acquired from another group through trade although it was unknown what was provided in exchange.

The findings indicate advances in technology and social structures unexpected so early in our species’ history, they said.

More:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-science-humans/earliest-homo-sapiens-exhibited-unexpected-sophistication-idUKKCN1GR3A7?rpc=401&

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colored Pigments and Complex Tools Suggest Humans Were Trading 100,000 Years Earlier Than Previously

Transformations in climate and landscape may have spurred these key technological innovations

By Lorraine Boissoneault
SMITHSONIAN.COM
MARCH 15, 2018 2:00PM

What the heck are these? thought Rick Potts. The Smithsonian paleoanthropologist was looking at a small, round, charcoal-colored lump. The stubby rock was accompanied by 85 others, all excavated from the Olorgesailie Basin site in southern Kenya.

Over the past decade, the site had revealed a bevvy of finds to Potts and his team of researchers from the Smithsonian and the National Museums of Kenya, including thousands of hominin-made tools, fossilized mammal remains and sediment samples spanning hundreds of thousands of years. But the lumps were a mystery.

Back at the lab, researchers analyzed them to find that they were black pigments: The oldest paleo-crayons ever discovered, dating back to around 300,000 years ago.

That was only the beginning of the intrigue. Having long studied this site and this period in human evolution, Potts knew that early humans generally sourced their food and materials locally. These “crayons,” however, were clearly imported. They’d formed in a briny lake, but the closest body of water that fit that description was some 18 miles away. That was much farther than most inhabitants likely would’ve traveled on a regular basis, given the uneven terrain. So what was going on?

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/colored-pigments-and-complex-tools-suggest-human-trade-100000-years-earlier-previously-believed-180968499/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Some 45 years ago I was a docent at the Natural History museum of the Smithsonian.

It was an amazing experience on many levels. Relevant to this, is how I was struck in the anthropology halls, that humans made things prettier and more decorative than they needed to be. Even people living in the harshest of conditions put beauty and grace into their surroundings.

It seems to me as though that urge, the urge to beautify, is the underlying essence of our humanity.