Prehistoric crayons provide clues to how Neanderthals created art

A remarkable yellow crayon discovered in Crimea, still sharp after more than 40,000 years, indicates that drawing lines on objects was part of Neanderthal culture. The discovery provides the strongest evidence yet that some groups of Neanderthals used color pigments for symbolic purposes, a behavior once thought to be the sole domain of our species.

“It's really interesting. It adds a new dimension to what we know about the symbolic use of color,” says Emma Pomeroy from the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the study.

Use of ocher – an iron-rich mineral with red, yellow or orange hues – has ancient roots dating back at least 400,000 years to Europe and Africa. Pieces of ocher have been found at many Neanderthal sites, where they appear to have been used for practical purposes such as tanning clothing and as fire accelerators, and were sometimes smeared onto shell beads.

Neanderthals they may also have used ocher to decorate their bodies, clothing, and other surfaces, but such traces have long since disappeared. To explore further, Francesco d'Errico from the University of Bordeaux, France, and his colleagues conducted a detailed analysis of ocher pieces found at Neanderthal sites in Crimea, Ukraine. By studying how Neanderthals modified the ocher pieces, and by microscopically analyzing how they were worn, the researchers were able to build a picture of how these objects were used.

The most attractive of these ocher objects was a yellow object that was at least 42,000 years old and had been sanded and scraped into a crayon-like shape, about 5-6 centimeters long. Detailed analysis shows that the tip was worn through use and then sharpened again, indicating that it was reused as a mark-making tool over time.

“This instrument has been modified and changed several times, which is what makes it special,” says D’Errico. “It's not just a crayon in shape. It's crayon because it was used as a crayon. It's something that may have been used on leather or stone to draw a line – perhaps a reflection of artistic activity.”

April Nowell from the University of Victoria in Canada, who was not involved in the study, agrees. “You only keep a dot on your pencil if you want to draw precise lines or designs,” she says.

The research team also discovered another, older, broken crayon, about 70,000 years old, made of red ocher.

“They tell us so much just from these little pieces of ocher,” Pomeroy says. “It's that little piece of humanity that we can relate to. It really brings these people within touching distance.”

The findings of Crimean crayons add to a small but growing body of evidence pointing to the artistic talents of Neanderthals, such as 57,000-year-old finger carvings on a cave wall in France And mysterious circles made of stalagmites 175,000 years ago in another French cave.

They also lend weight to the idea that symbolic behavior has very deep roots in our evolutionary past, rather than being an ability that evolved relatively recently, only in wise man. “The basic cognitive capacity for symbolic behavior is undoubtedly inherent in the last common ancestor wise manDenisovans and Neanderthals over 700,000 years ago,” says Nowell.

Ancient caves, human origins: Northern Spain

Discover some of the world's oldest known cave paintings in this idyllic part of Northern Spain. Travel back 40,000 years and discover how our ancestors lived, played and worked. From ancient Paleolithic art to impressive geological formations, each cave tells a unique story that transcends time.