Universität zu Köln

Rifkin, Riaan F., Prinsloo, Linda C., Dayet, Laure, Haaland, Magnus M., Henshilwood, Christopher S., Diz, Enrique Lozano, Moyo, Stanley, Vogelsang, Ralf and Kambombo, Fousy (2016). Characterising pigments on 30 000-year-old portable art from Apollo 11 Cave, Karas Region, southern Namibia. J. Archaeol. Sci.-Rep., 5. S. 336 - 348. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. ISSN 2352-409X

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

As an unambiguous indication of complex cognitive capacity, representational art presents explicit evidence for modern and symbolic human behaviour. The only examples of African figurative art dating to the Late Pleistocene comprise seven stone plaques recovered from Apollo 11 Cave in the Huns Mountains, southern Namibia. The plaques derive from a single anthropogenic layer dated by radiocarbon (C-14) accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and optically simulated luminescence (OSL) methods to c. 30 000 years ago. We present the results of digital (CIE) L*a*b* colourimetric and portable energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF), Raman spectroscopic and Fourier transform infrared reflectance (FT-IR) analyses of the pigments present on the plaques. These results provide the earliest direct evidence, in Africa, for the preparation of pigment-based paint-like mixtures and their application to create prehistoric art. Our research shows that in the creation of the depictions on the plaques, the artists used black pigments derived from manganese and charcoal, red pigments likely derived from ocherous shale and white pigments possibly derived from ostrich eggshell. Additionally, these plaques provide unique evidence for the combined use of mineral-and carbon-based pigment 'crayons' during the African Middle Stone Age. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Rifkin, Riaan F. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Prinsloo, Linda C. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Dayet, Laure UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Haaland, Magnus M. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Henshilwood, Christopher S. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Diz, Enrique Lozano UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Moyo, Stanley UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Vogelsang, Ralf UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kambombo, Fousy UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-286412
DOI:	10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.11.028
Journal or Publication Title:	J. Archaeol. Sci.-Rep.
Volume:	5
Page Range:	S. 336 - 348
Date:	2016
Publisher:	ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
Place of Publication:	AMSTERDAM
ISSN:	2352-409X
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language MIDDLE-STONE-AGE; PALEOLITHIC ROCK-PAINTINGS; SHELL BEADS; ENGRAVED OCHRE; HUMAN-BEHAVIOR; BLOMBOS CAVE; WESTERN-CAPE; BORDER CAVE; AFRICA; SPECTROSCOPY Multiple languages Archaeology Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/28641