IIn a further blow to the image of Neanderthals as brutal troglodytes, we have identified tools that ancient hominids used for painting and decoration. Pieces of hardened clay and sand, colored earthy red by iron oxide, may have served as Neanderthal's original pencil.
The researchers analyzed 70,000-year-old pieces of ocher, a natural clay pigment, and noticed that some artifacts discovered at known Neanderthal sites scattered across Crimea and mainland Ukraine bore marks of handling and sharpening that indicated their use as ancient crayons. Using scanning electron microscopy and portable X-ray machines, European scientists studied 16 pieces of ocher and suggested that Neanderthals may have used some of them for symbolic (read non-utilitarian) purposes.
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“These objects and their markings likely played a role in communication, expression of identity, and transmission of knowledge across generations,” researchers wrote in recent Achievements of science paper. “The meticulous nature of the ocher fragments further supports this interpretation, suggesting that they were preserved, transported and reused—behavior that reflects both planning and cultural investment.”
Did all Neanderthals draw with crayons? The authors of the paper say their findings cannot answer this question. Neanderthals lived for thousands of years and across a huge geographic range, from Western Europe to Central Asia and Siberia. “Our results do not mean that all Neanderthal use of ocher in Crimea was symbolic or that such behavior continued for tens of thousands of years.”
But the findings do provide some material support for the long-held suspicion that Neanderthals, at least in some places and times, expressed themselves through the decoration of their bodies, clothing or environments. Our ancient ancestors seem to be becoming a little more human every day.
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Main image: D'Errico, F., etc. Achievements of science (2025).
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