The Art Behind Modern Behavior

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About 77,000 years ago, in a cave overlooking the Indian Ocean, a group of early people were using bone tools for leatherwork, grinding red ocher into powder, probably for use as body decoration, and even carving geometric designs. At their site, about 150 miles from present-day Cape Town, they used fire contained in small hearths, and hunted a variety of animals and fish.

This small band of early Africans were, a group of scientists excavating the Blombos Cave site believes, thoroughly modern people, capable of abstract thought and probably language. Evidence from their settlement could have important implications for theories about the emergence of modern people. …