Ochre and pigment use at Hohle Fels cave: Results of the first systematic review of ochre and ochre-related artefacts from the Upper Palaeolithic in Germany

Abstract

Though many European Upper Palaeolithic sites document early examples of symbolic material expressions (e.g., cave art, personal ornaments, figurines), there exist few reports on the use of earth pigments outside of cave art–and occasionally Neanderthal–contexts. Here, we present the first in-depth study of the diachronic changes in ochre use throughout an entire Upper Palaeolithic sequence at Hohle Fels cave, Germany, spanning from ca. 44,000–14,500 cal. yr. BP. A reassessment of the assemblage has yielded 869 individual ochre artefacts, of which 27 show traces of anthropogenic modification. The ochre artefacts are from all Upper Palaeolithic layers, stemming from the earliest Aurignacian horizons to the Holocene. This wide temporal spread demonstrates the long-term presence and continuity of ochre use in a part of Europe where it has not been systematically reported before. The anthropogenic modifications present on the ochre artefacts from the Gravettian and Magdalenian are consistent with pigment powder production, whereas the only modified piece from the Aurignacian displays a possible engraved motif. The non-modified artefacts show that more hematite-rich specular ochres as well as fine-grained deep red iron oxide clays were preferred during the Gravettian and Magdalenian, while the Aurignacian layers contain a broader array of colours and textures. Furthermore, numerous other artefacts such as faunal elements, personal ornaments, shells, and an ochre grindstone further strengthen the conclusion that ochre behaviours were well established during the onset of the Aurignacian and subsequently flourished throughout the Upper Palaeolithic at Hohle Fels cave.

First large‐scale provenance study of pigments reveals new complex behavioural patterns during the Upper Palaeolithic of south‐western Germany

“…The source that this group represents, though its location yet unidentified, was well‐known to HF inhabitants after its discovery, and was increasingly favoured during and after the Gravettian, coinciding with the narrowing of ochre preferences at HF to silty and purple ochres producing a dark red powder (Velliky et al . 2018).…”

“…A detailed summary of the HF ochre assemblage typology is presented by Velliky et al . (2018). The descriptive variables used for GK and VH are consistent with those used for the HF ochres (see Table S1).…”

“…A recent assessment of the HF ochre assemblage revealed temporal changes in the types of ochre that were collected and how they were used (Velliky et al . 2018). The neighbouring cave sites of Geißenklösterle (GK) and Vogelherd (VH) also yielded ochre artefacts and examples of figurative art (Hahn 1988; Conard 2003; Wolf 2015; Dutkiewicz et al .…”

“…We use a combination of qualitative data (Velliky et al . 2018), trace element geochemistry (neutron activation analysis—NAA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) to make our provenance interpretations. We interpret how the exploitation of different ochre outcrops changed over time at HF based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, and apply these data to assemblages from GK and VH to explore regional patterns between the cave sites.…”

“…A re‐evaluation of the HF assemblage uncovered a total of 869 ochre artefacts, including 27 anthropogenically modified pieces and 21 suspected modified pieces (Velliky et al . 2018).…”