New Delhi: At several sites in Southern Africa, archaeologists unearthed engravings on something unusual — ostrich eggshells.
A study, published in PLOS One and titled Earliest Geometries: A Cognitive Investigation of Howiesons Poort Engraved Ostrich Eggshells, has highlighted that the markings were more organised than simple scratches or improvised decorations. It was led by researchers at the University of Bologna.
“These signs reveal a surprisingly structured, geometric way of thinking. We are talking about people who did not simply draw lines but organised them according to recurring principles – parallelisms, grids, rotations and systematic repetitions,” said Silvia Ferrara, Professor at the University of Bologna’s Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies, who coordinated the study.
According to the research, these eggshells are more than 60,000 years old, and the fragments were created by a group of Homo sapiens living in the region.
“The engravers may even have planned entire patterns in their minds before carving them,” reads the study.
Evolution of human cognition
The ostrich eggshells were probably used as containers for carrying or storing water.
To examine the engravings, the researchers conducted a systematic quantitative analysis of 112 fragments recovered from two archaeological sites, Diepkloof and Klipdrift in South Africa, and one in Namibia.
The researchers applied geometric and statistical techniques to reconstruct the directions, angles and paths of the engraved lines. The results showed that more than 80 per cent of the configurations contained consistent spatial patterns.
“These engravings are organised and consistent, and show mastery of geometric relationships. There is not only a process of repeating signs: there is real visuo-spatial planning, as if the authors already had an overall image of the figure in mind before engraving it,” said Ferrara.
According to the researchers, the importance of the engravings goes beyond whatever meaning the individual markings may once have carried.
“Their broader significance lies in the mental abilities required to create visual designs according to consistent rules,” reads the study.
The researchers analysed that the capacity to arrange shapes and lines in organised configurations represent an important sign of emerging abstract thought, a major development in the evolution of human cognition.
“Our analysis shows that Homo sapiens 60,000 years ago already possessed a remarkable ability to organise visual space according to abstract principles. Transforming simple forms into complex systems by following defined rules is a deeply human trait that has characterised our history over millennia, from the creation of decorations to the development of symbolic systems and, ultimately, writing,” said Valentina Decembrini, PhD student at the University of Bologna’s Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies and first author of the study.
(Edited by Aakriti Handa)