Should we change the name Stone Age to the Wood Age? Ancient wooden artifacts are rarely preserved, but a remarkable exception is a ca. 300,000-year-old collection of hunting weapons that archaeologists have recovered from an open-pit coal mine in Schöningen. Germany.
Rope made from twisted or braided plant fibers can be traced back tens of thousands of years. Preservation is rare, so most artifacts have been lost in the dust of time – but there are hints about rope production, including tools that may have been used to make them. The rope bridges of the Incas were impressive structures that could extend across greater distances than any masonry bridge built in history before that time.
Stone tools work best when made from specific kinds of rock. Careful selection of rock types began early when our human ancestors (hominins) first began using stone tools millions of years ago. Volcanic rocks have been a preferred choice, from hominins to the ancient Andeans. And surprisingly, perhaps, the trail of stone tools continues into the present.
An unusual Christmas nativity scene with characters constructed from water-smoothed pebbles and including the Three Maji, or Wise Men, recently caught my attention. From materials ranging from rocks and paper to wood, ceramics, and beyond, all around the world there are captivating art displays of nativity scenes that represent the birth of Jesus.
Geoglyphs are large designs typically longer than about 13 feet (4 m) and produced on the ground by arranging rocks or soil. They are distinctive elements of the archaeological record along the Pacific coast of the Americas, from California to Chile. The Nazca lines of Peru are famous geoglyphs of animals and geometric shapes, constructed in the arid deserts of south-central coastal Peru between about 500 BCE and 500 CE.
Around 13,000 years ago, Paleoindian hunters were making red ochre from iron-rich hematite collected from a quarry in the western foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Red ochre had an important role in Paleoindian societies, and is associated with many campsites, kill sites, graves, caches—and notably, found in rock art. Worldwide, the historical record of red ochre mines extends back tens of thousands of years.
Ancient Moche artists created an exceptional level of ceramic art over 1,500 years ago when this culture prospered along the arid north coast of Peru. They produced realistic three-dimensional ceramic forms of people and animals, and they decorated vessels with exquisite fine-line drawings. Several aspects of Moche ceramics recently caught my interest, especially the realistic ceramic animals and the drawings of supernatural creatures.
Ancient people with hunting and gathering lifestyles were making fired clay pottery as far back as at least 20,000 years ago. This is surprising! Until recently, scholars believed that pottery appeared only when people adopted sedentary, farming lifestyles. Except that isn’t what actually happened.
Many ancient cultures revered red, the color of blood and historically associated with danger, courage, and sacrifice. Thousands of years ago in South America, ancient Andean artists happened upon an extremely vivid red dye: cochineal. The use of cochineal continues today, along with lots of controversy.
