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Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene

Marean, Curtis W.; Bar-Matthews, Miryam; Bernatchez, Jocelyn; Fisher, Erich; Goldberg, Paul; Herries, Andy I. R.; Jacobs, Zenobia; Jerardino, Antonieta; Karkanas, Panagiotis; Minichillo, Tom; Nilssen, Peter J.; Thompson, Erin; Watts, Ian; Williams, Hope M.

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2007-10

10.1038/nature06204

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Number: 7164 Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

Abstract:

Evidence of shellfish use and cultural practice (use of red ochre) by Homo sapiens from a sea-cave in South Africa around 164,000 years ago presents the earliest evidence for the exploitation of coastal resources by some 40,000 years. At that time Africa was mostly desert, possibly driving small bands of hunter-gatherers seawards in search of new food sources