| Title |
An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Nature, September 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1038/s41586-018-0514-3 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Christopher S. Henshilwood, Francesco d’Errico, Karen L. van Niekerk, Laure Dayet, Alain Queffelec, Luca Pollarolo |
| Abstract |
Abstract and depictive representations produced by drawing-known from Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia after 40,000 years ago-are a prime indicator of modern cognition and behaviour1. Here we report a cross-hatched pattern drawn with an ochre crayon on a ground silcrete flake recovered from approximately 73,000-year-old Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Our microscopic and chemical analyses of the pattern confirm that red ochre pigment was intentionally applied to the flake with an ochre crayon. The object comes from a level associated with stone tools of the Still Bay techno-complex that has previously yielded shell beads, cross-hatched engravings on ochre pieces and a variety of innovative technologies2-5. This notable discovery pre-dates the earliest previously known abstract and figurative drawings by at least 30,000 years. This drawing demonstrates the ability of early Homo sapiens in southern Africa to produce graphic designs on various media using different techniques. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 389 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 34 | 9% |
| United Kingdom | 32 | 8% |
| United States | 23 | 6% |
| France | 22 | 6% |
| Japan | 16 | 4% |
| Canada | 9 | 2% |
| Netherlands | 8 | 2% |
| India | 5 | 1% |
| Norway | 5 | 1% |
| Other | 47 | 12% |
| Unknown | 188 | 48% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 319 | 82% |
| Scientists | 53 | 14% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 10 | 3% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 7 | 2% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 212 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 212 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 38 | 18% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 27 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 17 | 8% |
| Professor | 17 | 8% |
| Student > Bachelor | 16 | 8% |
| Other | 45 | 21% |
| Unknown | 52 | 25% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Arts and Humanities | 33 | 16% |
| Social Sciences | 20 | 9% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 18 | 8% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 18 | 8% |
| Chemistry | 10 | 5% |
| Other | 47 | 22% |
| Unknown | 66 | 31% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2321. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 30 November 2023.
All research outputs
#3,583
of 25,816,430 outputs
Outputs from Nature
#372
of 98,837 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#52
of 349,148 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature
#10
of 1,024 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,816,430 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 98,837 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 102.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
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