Paleolithic milk-based paint found on stone tool

Researchers studying residue found on a 49,000-year-old stone tool have discovered a paint made from milk and ochre.

While the use of ochre by early humans dates to at least 250,000 years ago in Europe and Africa, this is the first time a paint containing ochre and milk has ever been found in association with early humans in South Africa, said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and lead study author. The milk likely was obtained by killing lactating members of the bovid family such as buffalo, eland, kudu and impala, she said.

“Although the use of the paint still remains uncertain, this surprising find establishes the use of milk with ochre well before the introduction of domestic cattle in South Africa,” said Villa. “Obtaining milk from a lactating wild bovid also suggests that the people may have attributed a special significance and value to that product.”

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Story: Unversity of Colorado at Boulder | Photo: Wikimedia Commons