Archaeological Ochres of the Rock Art Site of Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia): Looking for Later Stone Age Sociocultural Behaviors

Abstract

The use of ochre has been documented in many Middle Stone Age sites of Southern Africa. However, the literature on the exploitation of ochre within the archaeo-logical contexts of Later Stone Age (LSA) rock art sites is scarce. Despite the discovery of several painted shelters within the Erongo Mountains (Namibia), no archaeologi-cal study of ochre assemblages has been conducted in the region. Here, we present the archaeological ochre assem-blage recovered from a LSA sequence at the rock art shelter of Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia), spanning ca. 5,700 to 2,100 cal. BP. The use-wear traces present on some ochre fragments and the stone tools bearing red residues are indicative of different stages of ochre process-ing at the site. The presence of other artifacts, such as ostrich eggshell and bone beads with red residues, and the existence of rock paintings in the cave are pointers to the importance of ochre for understanding the sociocultural behaviors of the LSA populations in central Namibia.Résumé Bien que de nombreux sites du Middle Stone Age d'Afrique australe documentent l'utilisation de matières colorantes ferrugineuses, la littérature existante sur leur utilisation dans des contextes archéologiques de sites d'art rupestre du Later Stone Age (LSA) est rare. Malgré la découverte de plusieurs abris ornés riches de nombreux blocs de matières colorantes ferrugineuses dans les monts Erongo (Namibie), aucune étude n'a été mené sur ces matières premières dans cette région. Nous présentons dans cet article l'assemblage archéologique de matières colorantes ferrugineuses récupérées dans l'abri orné de Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibie) au sein d'newapos;une séquence LSA, s'étendant d'environ 5700 à 2100 cal. a. BP. Les traces d'utilisations présentes sur certains blocs de matières colorantes ferrugineuses et la présence d'outils en pierre portant des traces de résidus rouges à leur surface attestent de l'existence de différentes « chaînes opératoires » de traitement des matières colorantes ferrugineuses sur le site. La présence d'autres artefacts portant des traces de résidus rouges tels que des perles en coquille d'oeuf d'autruche ou en os et l'existence dans l'abri de peintures rupestres soulignent l'importance d'étudier les matières colorantes pour comprendre les comportements socio-culturels des populations LSA en Namibie centrale.

Invasive and Non-Invasive Analyses of Ochre and Iron-Based Pigment Raw Materials: A Methodological Perspective

“…Ochre characterization starts with macroscopic examinations as any other petrologic or mineralogical analyses [21,23,26,30,31,33,40]. The wide range of minerals they are composed of as well as the fine-grained texture they feature as a whole or as a part (their matrix or their cement) constitute limits that are hardly overtaken by simple necked eye or binocular microscope examination [24,28,33,35,37]. In order to take into account their geological and mineralogical diversity, multi-analytical approaches were favoured (Table 1).…”

“…Several ochre studies dealing with ochre characterization do not include physicochemical analyses [21,23,30,33,40,112], or include few physico-chemical analyses with few inferences on raw material characterization [26,113]. Using macroscopic and microscopic examination alone is usually avoided in mineralogical and petrologic studies for several reasons, that could appear trivial when dealing with advanced geological issues: this approach is qualitative; some of the criteria might be subjective; the surface of the rock might not be representative of the inside (presence of a patina, a layer of alteration); the identification of coarse grains or large crystals within a rock is not always possible; and the finegrained fraction cannot be properly characterized.…”

“…Because he gave very precise definition of each criterion and compares their distribution throughout the sequence independently, his study is reproducible (in theory) and the reliability of the results can be evaluated. Another successful macroscopic study is found in Mauran et al [33], who inventoried and described various ochre remains (ochre pieces, red deposits on beads, ochre grinding tools, etc.) from the Later Stone Age (LSA) site of Leopard cave (Namibia).…”

“…Much as is done with other mineral resources exploited by humans, their characterization allows for the reconstruction of past technical and symbolic behaviors, of group mobility and social organization, and more generally of cultural dynamics. Broaching these subjects requires bringing to light key information regarding the operational sequences (chaîne opératoire) that bring into play the choices made during raw material acquisition, transformation, and use [2,19,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. The characterization of ochre materials has become an essential part of archeological pigment studies over the last decades, yet such studies are not without their own methodological issues.…”

Data pretreatment and multivariate analyses for ochre sourcing: Application to Leopard Cave (Erongo, Namibia)

“…In Namibia, archaeologists recovered ochres from numerous archaeological sites within rock-art-rich areas such as Twyfelfontein, the Rhino Desert, the Brandberg and the Erongo Mountains (Sandelowsky and Viereck, 1969;Wendt, 1972;Kinahan, 1990Kinahan, , 2010Kinahan, , 2018Richter, 1991;Breunig, 2003;Vogelsang and Eichhorn, 2011;Veldman, 2015;Breunig et al, 2018;Mauran et al, 2020a). Existing literature focuses mostly on exploitation and technical functions of ochre stricto sensu in hunter-gatherers societies (Rifkin, 2011(Rifkin, , 2012(Rifkin, , 2015Rifkin et al, 2015a, b).…”