Archeologists have discovered a paint production studio in an ancient South African cave A new archaeological find may signify one of the great leaps in human cultural and cognitive history. Because researchers have discovered a 100,000-year-old art studio. It was known that ochre—rock with red or yellow pigments—was used for paint even that far back in history. But there was scant evidence for how it was prepared and handled. Then, in 2008, researchers uncovered an ochre mixing kit in a South African cave. They found two abalone shells, most likely used for paint mixing and storage. They also found ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones and hammerstones. The researchers say the ochre was probably rubbed on quartzite slabs to create a fine powder. It was then mixed and heated with other crushed substances, including other stones or mammal-bone. Microscopic striations on the inner abalone surface likely are likely scrape marks left during paint mixing. The research was published in the journal Science. The paint may have been used for body adornment or for long-gone artwork. And the presence of this paint-production laboratory indicates that the early humans knew basic chemistry and could plan for the future.

考古學(xué)家在南非的一個(gè)古老洞穴中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)油漆制作工作室。這個(gè)新的考古發(fā)現(xiàn)可能是人類文化和認(rèn)知?dú)v史的最偉大的跨越之一。因?yàn)檠芯咳藛T發(fā)現(xiàn)的這個(gè)工作室產(chǎn)生于十萬年前。眾所周知，擁有紅色或黃色色素的赭石巖一直被廣泛運(yùn)用于繪畫中，但卻少有證據(jù)顯示它是如何制作并運(yùn)用的。2008年，研究人員 在南非的山洞中發(fā)現(xiàn)了赭石混合工具， 兩個(gè)可能用于調(diào)漆和儲(chǔ)存的鮑魚殼，除此之外他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)了赭石，骨頭，炭筆和石錘。研究人員稱，這些赭石很有可能經(jīng)過在石英巖板上仔細(xì)研磨后，得到上等的粉末，然后再與 其他石頭或者是哺乳動(dòng)物的粉末混合并加熱。用顯微鏡觀察鮑魚殼的內(nèi)表面，你可以發(fā)現(xiàn)一些刮痕，這些都有可能是在混合顏料的過程中留下來的。這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)已經(jīng)被刊登在科學(xué)期刊上。這些顏料可能一直被運(yùn)用在人體彩繪和長久失傳的藝術(shù)品上。而且這些顏料制作工作室的存在表明了早期人類對化學(xué)已有了基本的了解并具有了規(guī)劃未來的能力。顏料工具的一小步，人類歷史的一大步——辛西亞莫。