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From the Cover: Implications for complex cognition from the hafting of tools with compound adhesives in the Middle Stone Age, South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Compound adhesives made from red ochre mixed with plant gum were used in the Middle Stone Age (MSA), South Africa. Replications reported here suggest that early artisans did not merely color their glues red; they deliberately effected physical transformations involving chemical changes from acidic to less acidic pH, dehydration of the adhesive near wood fires, and changes to mechanical workability and electrostatic forces. Some of the steps required for making compound adhesive seem impossible without multitasking and abstract thought. This ability suggests overlap between the cognitive abilities of modern people and people in the MSA. Our multidisciplinary analysis provides a new way to recognize complex cognition in the MSA without necessarily invoking the concept of symbolism.

SUBMITTER: Wadley L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2700998 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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From the Cover: Implications for complex cognition from the hafting of tools with compound adhesives in the Middle Stone Age, South Africa.

Wadley Lyn L Hodgskiss Tamaryn T Grant Michael M

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20090511 24

Compound adhesives made from red ochre mixed with plant gum were used in the Middle Stone Age (MSA), South Africa. Replications reported here suggest that early artisans did not merely color their glues red; they deliberately effected physical transformations involving chemical changes from acidic to less acidic pH, dehydration of the adhesive near wood fires, and changes to mechanical workability and electrostatic forces. Some of the steps required for making compound adhesive seem impossible w ...[more]

PMID: 19433786

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An experimental study of hafting adhesives and the implications for compound tool technology.

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Lap Shear and Impact Testing of Ochre and Beeswax in Experimental Middle Stone Age Compound Adhesives.

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Red Balloon rock shelter Middle Stone Age ochre assemblage and population's adaption to local resources in the Waterberg (Limpopo, South Africa).

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