60,000-Year-Old Animal Proteins Mixed With Ocher Identified in South Africa

FUKUOKA, JAPAN—According to a statement released by Kyushu University, an international team of scientists found a rare mix of animal collagen and ocher in samples taken from 60,000-year-old ocher-rich sediments at the Kilpdrift Complex archaeological site in South Africa’s De Hoop Nature Reserve. Using paleoproteomics, the researchers determined that the collagen protein comes from a species of antelope called the common eland (Taurotragus oryx). The study suggests that people mixed materials derived from these large antelopes with ocher powder, or perhaps that they used ocher-treated hides at the cliffside site. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. To read about an ocher pigment production workshop unearthed in South Africa’s Blombos Cave, go to “Stone Age Art Supplies.”