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The Ādam Paradox Hypothesis 4
1. Pinnacle Point ochre (~164 kya)
Artifact: Mineral pigment (ochre) fragments recovered from the site
Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, South Africa. These include earth pigment
pieces used by early humans, found in layers dating to the later Middle
Pleistocene (~164,000 years ago).
These aren’t engraved like symbols but are significant as some of the
earliest evidence of controlled pigment use.
2. Qafzeh beads (~92 kya)
Artifact: Glycymeris shell beads (marine shells), some naturally perforated
and used as ornaments, found in Qafzeh Cave, Israel. They date to about
92,000 years ago and reflect symbolic use and personal adornment.
3. Blombos engravings (~77 kya)
Artifact #1: Engraved ochre pieces — flat pieces of red ochre (e.g.,
SAM-AA 8937) incised with cross-hatched and parallel line patterns.
These are approximately ~77,000 years old, from the Middle Stone Age
levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa.
Artifact #2: Ochre processing toolkit — including ochre, bone, charcoal,
grindstones, hammerstones, and abalone shells used to grind and store
pigment. This “
workshop” context underscores the intentional use of
ochre.
4. Diepkloof motifs (~60 kya)
Artifact: 260–270 fragments of engraved ostrich eggshell containers at
the Diepkloof Rock Shelter, South Africa. These fragments (from ~25
containers) bear geometric motifs such as hatched bands, crosshatch
patterns, and parallel lines. The tradition is dated to the Howiesons Poort
period (~60,000 years ago).
As archaeologist Francesco d’Errico observes:
“Symbolic behaviors appear in
punctuated episodes, not continuous streams” (d’Errico & Stringer, 2011, p. 1061).
Mellars agrees:
“The pattern is episodic bursts, separated by long intervals of apparent
silence
” (Mellars, 2006, p. 938).
These sparks reveal potential without permanence. The brain could imagine,
but the culture could not sustain. Each symbolic attempt collapsed, leaving
no cumulative tradition.