Ochre and pigment use at Hohle Fels cave: Results of the first systematic review of ochre and ochre-related artefacts from the Upper Palaeolithic in Germany.

Elizabeth C Velliky,Nicholas J Conard,Martin Porr,Karen Hardy

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209874

Abstract

Though many European Upper Palaeolithic sites document early examples of symbolic material expressions (e.g., cave art, personal ornaments, figurines), there exist few reports on the use of earth pigments outside of cave art–and occasionally Neanderthal–contexts. Here, we present the first in-depth study of the diachronic changes in ochre use throughout an entire Upper Palaeolithic sequence at Hohle Fels cave, Germany, spanning from ca. 44,000–14,500 cal. yr. BP. A reassessment of the assemblage has yielded 869 individual ochre artefacts, of which 27 show traces of anthropogenic modification. The ochre artefacts are from all Upper Palaeolithic layers, stemming from the earliest Aurignacian horizons to the Holocene. This wide temporal spread demonstrates the long-term presence and continuity of ochre use in a part of Europe where it has not been systematically reported before. The anthropogenic modifications present on the ochre artefacts from the Gravettian and Magdalenian are consistent with pigment powder production, whereas the only modified piece from the Aurignacian displays a possible engraved motif. The non-modified artefacts show that more hematite-rich specular ochres as well as fine-grained deep red iron oxide clays were preferred during the Gravettian and Magdalenian, while the Aurignacian layers contain a broader array of colours and textures. Furthermore, numerous other artefacts such as faunal elements, personal ornaments, shells, and an ochre grindstone further strengthen the conclusion that ochre behaviours were well established during the onset of the Aurignacian and subsequently flourished throughout the Upper Palaeolithic at Hohle Fels cave.

Highlights

Hohle Fels (HF) cave has contributed significantly to our current understanding of the earliest culture associated with the first anatomically modern humans (AMHs) in Europe known as the Aurignacian
A breakdown of the total number of ochre artefacts and modified pieces in all time periods from HF is summarised in Table 3. 27 artefacts show definite signs of anthropogenic modification (3.1% of the assemblage) and another 21 show possible traces of anthropogenic modification (2.4% of the assemblage)
The size of the HF ochre assemblage (n = 869), and the highly fragmentary condition of the ochre artefacts themselves begs the question: why are there so few ochre pieces and why are they so small? Does the nature and condition of the HF ochre assemblage suggest that the people occupying HF during the Upper Palaeolithic (UP) only exhibited a limited range of ochre behaviours that were mainly opportunistic? In order to investigate this hypothesis and the range of geogenic processes occurring at the cave in the late Pleistocene, we propose four scenarios that may account for the assemblage size as well as the conditions of the artefacts: 1. Ochre-use efficiency

Summary

Introduction

Hohle Fels (HF) cave has contributed significantly to our current understanding of the earliest culture associated with the first anatomically modern humans (AMHs) in Europe known as the Aurignacian Less known in the HF assemblage is the presence of numerous ochre artefacts stemming from all Upper Palaeolithic (UP) periods. We present the first systematic study of an ochre assemblage at HF cave and, more broadly, the first detailed analysis of an ochre assemblage from a Central European UP site through different time periods. The artefacts stem from all UP periods present at HF and were found over the course of excavations at the site from 1975–2018. We report the qualitative characteristics of the HF ochre assemblage that hitherto have not been reported. These aspects include the variety of ochre types present, differences in visual characteristics such as colour and texture, and the types and range of modifications. We discuss how ochre use changes throughout the UP and the behavioural implications of these use patterns on a local and regional scale

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion