✏️ Crimean Neanderthals used ochre pencils

The Neanderthals of Crimea shaped and resharpened ochre pencils to make intentional marks, proving that color played a role in their way of communicating, going beyond simple utilitarian use. Published in Science Advances, this work by an international team reinforces the idea that symbolic thought was not unique to Homo sapiens.

An international team, including researchers from the laboratory "From Prehistory to the Present: Culture, Environment and Anthropology" (PACEA - CNRS / University of Bordeaux / Ministry of Culture), analyzed sixteen ochre fragments from several major sites evidencing Neanderthal presence in Ukraine (Zaskalnaya V, Zaskalnaya VI, Prolom II and Mukhovets).


Thanks to chemical analyses (pXRF, SEM-EDS) and microscopic observations, the scientists identified traces of shaping, wear, and resharpening, indicating prolonged use. Among the most striking discoveries is an elongated ochre pencil, the tip of which shows abrasion marks compatible with repeated rubbing on soft surfaces, signs of an intent to produce visible marks.

The analyses reveal that several pigments come from the same iron-rich outcrop located about 1.5 km (0.93 miles) from the sites. Other fragments, however, appear to come from more distant sources, which remain to be identified. This is the first direct link established between Neanderthal coloring materials and their geological sources in Crimea. The choice of materials for their visual qualities and their regular maintenance testifies to an intentional and expressive use of color.

The researchers also compiled the first database of Mousterian and Acheulean sites in Europe and Western Asia that have yielded coloring materials, complementing a recently published database for Africa.

These results reveal deep similarities between the practices of the Crimean Neanderthals and those of the first Homo sapiens in southern Africa, notably at Blombos Cave and Klasies River where ochre was also engraved, ground, and mixed to make pigments. These data suggest that symbolic expression and visual communication emerged independently in different fossil species.