Protein Analysis of 60,000-Year-Old Ochre Reveals Early Human Symbolic and Technical Behavior
Researchers detected ancient eland collagen in ochre-rich sediment from South Africa, providing biomolecular evidence that early humans deliberately mixed animal-derived materials with pigments during the Middle Stone Age.
What happened
An international research team from Kyushu University, University of Bergen, and University of Copenhagen analyzed a 60,000-year-old ochre-covered sediment surface from the De Hoop Nature Reserve in South Africa using palaeoproteomics—protein analysis rather than DNA sequencing. Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, the researchers isolated ancient protein fragments from the ochre and identified collagen from Taurotragus oryx, a large plains antelope (eland) common to the region during the Middle Stone Age. The presence of eland protein in the ochre provides what the team describes as "biomolecular evidence" that animal-derived materials were deliberately associated with ochre use, though the researchers have not determined the precise application—whether the materials were mixed to create pigment preparations or used to treat hides.
Context
The African Middle Stone Age represents a pivotal period in human prehistory marked by the emergence of Homo sapiens and the introduction of complex cultural and technological innovations, including the use of mineral pigments, sophisticated tool production, personal ornaments, and compound-making for tool hafting. These behaviors required planning, environmental knowledge, multitasking, and intergenerational knowledge transmission. The research demonstrates that palaeoproteomics—which survives longer and under harsher conditions than ancient DNA—can recover biomolecular evidence from archaeological sediments in African environments where conventional DNA rarely persists. This opens new methodological avenues for investigating how ancient MSA populations used ochre and organic materials in daily, technical, and possibly symbolic activities, particularly when bone and teeth materials are unavailable.
What's disputed
The researchers interpret the eland collagen presence as evidence of deliberate human action involving both utilitarian and early symbolic behaviors, though they acknowledge this interpretation is not definitively established and note that the specific functional use remains undetermined.