The expression of symbolic conduct, comparable to drawing, dates again to Paleolithic societies. Alongside fashionable people (Homo sapiens), we now know that Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) additionally engaged in summary conduct.
Ochre was one of the extensively exploited supplies, and a brand new examine has revealed Neanderthals from a Paleolithic web site in Crimea seem to have turned ochre fragments into pencil-like crayons, utilizing them for drawing or marking in a method that goes past on a regular basis sensible wants.
“Our proof for formed ochre crayons in Crimea is part of a rising corpus exhibiting that Neanderthal cultures throughout Europe engaged in symbolic practices,” the primary creator of the examine, Francesco d’Errico, informed New Atlas by way of e mail.
Francesco d’Errico and his colleagues used X-ray fluorescence and electron microscopy to research 16 lumps of ochre. The evaluation reveals traces of deliberate modifications like shaping, grinding, scoring, and tip resharpening. Three items particularly (ZSKV-05, ZSKV-06, and ZSKV-07) exhibit traits comparable to repeated resharpening and polished surfaces, suggesting intentional manufacturing as curated marking instruments for repeated use.
d’Errico et al., Science Advances (2025)
“This repeated upkeep reveals planning, data of how totally different strategies have an effect on ochre, and an intention to maintain the device usable over time,” Francesco informed New Atlas. “That stage of foresight strongly suggests expert, culturally transmitted know-how relatively than incidental by-products of powder manufacturing.”
Amongst these three items, ZSKV-06 is the clearest “full crayon” candidate. ZSKV-06 is an elongated yellow-ochre device intentionally formed with a pointed, pencil-like tip. It reveals a sequence of scraping to tough out its kind, adopted by finer grinding to regularize the surfaces, and repeated sharpening of the tip by means of burin-like flake removals and regrinding.
“Its tip shows distinct put on per drawing or marking, not with powder extraction,” Francesco informed New Atlas.
d’Errico et al., Science Advances (2025)
The researchers declare that many archaeological items, particularly the pink and yellow ochres, got here from the native outcrop, Crimson Gully. Nonetheless, the authors are cautious to not forged each ochre fragment as having a symbolic focus.
“We didn’t declare that each one ochre was concerned in symbolic practices; some items clearly may have been used for extracting powder which will have been utilized in sensible duties,” provides Francesco. “In all recognized societies, using pigmental materials for utilitarian features additionally has symbolic or signaling features.”
These findings counsel that symbolic marking, object curation, and deliberate use of coloration weren’t remoted improvements however significant elements of Neanderthal cultural traditions. Just lately, archaeologists found a pebble with a Neanderthal fingerprint, dating back 43,000 years. Francesco says that latest discoveries alongside this new proof strengthen the conclusion that some Neanderthal teams developed their very own sturdy symbolic practices that have been distinct, regionally structured, and maintained over tens of hundreds of years.
The examine was revealed in Science Advances.
