Israeli and French Researchers Uncover Prehistoric Bone with Etchings Believed to be one of the Oldest Evidence of Human Use of Symbols

Israeli and French Researchers Uncover Prehistoric Bone with Etchings Believed to be one of the Oldest Evidence of Human Use of Symbols

Prehistoric man intentionally made etchings on bones and stones as early as the Middle Paleolithic period (250,000 to 45,000 BCE). Were they created as a form of symbolism or spiritual expression? Were they conceived as art – or because these early humans were bored?

 

Scientists and historians have long suggested that such etchings were used as a form of symbolism. During the Middle Paleolithic in Eurasia, the production of deliberate, abstract engraving on bone or stone materials is a rare phenomenon. It is now widely accepted that both anatomically modern humans and hominins that predate them have produced deliberate engravings associated with symbolic behavior. Within the Levantine Middle Paleolithic context, only five examples of intentional engravings are known thus far.

 

Now, a discovery by archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Haifa, together with a team from the Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France, have uncovered evidence of what may be the earliest-known use of symbols.  The symbols were found on a bone fragment in a trove of flint tools and animal bones exposed at a site during archaeological excavations in the Ramle region near today’s Tel Aviv and are believed to be about 120,000 years old.  

 

They have just published their findings in the scientific journal Quaternary International under the title: “Early evidence for symbolic behavior in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: A 120-ka-old engraved aurochs bone shaft from the open-air site of Nesher Ramle, Israel.” 

 

Amazingly, the fragment remained largely intact over the millennia. The researchers were able to detect six similar etchings on one side of the bone, leading them to believe that they were in the possession of something which held symbolic or spiritual significance

 

Dr. Yossi Zaidner of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archeology says that the site was likely used as a camp or a meeting place for Paleolithic hunters who would then slaughter the animals they caught at that location. The identified bone is believed to have come from now-extinct, large, wild cattle – a species that was very common in the Middle East at that time.

 

Using three-dimensional imaging, microscopic methods of analysis and experimental reproduction of engravings in the lab, the team was able to identify six different engravings ranging from 38 to 42 millimeters in length.  Dr. Iris Groman-Yaroslavski from the University of Haifa explained: “Based on our laboratory analysis and discovery of microscopic elements, we were able to surmise that people in prehistoric times used a sharp tool fashioned from flint rock to make the engravings.”

 

The study authors stressed that their analysis makes it very clear that the engravings were definitely intentionally man made and could not have been the result of animal butchering activities or natural processes over the millennia. They pointed to the fact that the grooves of the engravings discovered are in a clear U-shape and wide and deep enough that they could not have been made by anything other than humans intent on carving lines into the bone. The analysis was also able to determine that the work was performed by a right-handed craftsman in a single working session. 

 

Marion Prévost from the Hebrew University institute added that all signs point to the fact that there was a definite message behind what was carved into the bone. “We reject any assumption that these grooves were some sort of inadvertent doodling.  That type of artwork wouldn’t have seen this level of attention to detail.”

 

So what was the message behind the six lines in the bone? “This engraving is very likely an example of symbolic activity and is the oldest known example of this form of messaging that was used in the Levant,” the team wrote. “We hypothesize that the choice of this particular bone was related to the status of that animal in that hunting community and is indicative of the spiritual connection that the hunters had with the animals they killed.”

 

Zaidner concluded: “It is fair to say that we have discovered one of the oldest symbolic engraving ever found on earth- and certainly the oldest in the Levant. This discovery has very important implications for understanding of how symbolic expression developed in humans.  At the same time, while it is still not possible to determine the exact meaning of these symbols, we hope that continued research will unveil those key details.”