Red Ochre – not just for ceremonial purposes

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First Susquehanna Today I finished up a Susquehanna point that I had originally worked into a little biface a few days ago. The material is keokuk chert and probably wasn't historically used with...

Fire Log Here I go, playing with fire again! This is something I saw Ray Mears demonstrate in his Bushcraft video series. It is a neat concept that requires a dry and seasoned...

Plevna Replication This Plevna impostor measures about 3-3/4" long and 1-7/8" wide. It is made from Keokuk Burlington chert. I call it an impostor because, try as I might, I couldn't quite get...

Twisted Withy Stick Withys may not sound very exciting to most, but I've just had a breakthrough with them so I'm a little excited and thought I'd share what I've learned. First of all, I want...

Paddling the Oak Orchard I also forgot to mention that I enjoy paddling - a lot. I took the canoe out today and paddled the Oak Orchard River through a portion of the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge...

Posted on : 20-09-2009 | By : John | In : Stone Tools

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090511-stone-age-glue_big BoingBoing linked to a National Geographic article regarding the use of red ochre by stone-age humans. Recent research now suggests that they deliberately used it as an additive to improve the adhesive quality of the glues they were making at the time. Considering that some type of adhesive was probably incorporated into the hafting process, this may explain why so many clovis-period projectile points found today show residual staining left by this iron-rich mineral. It was originally thought that the red pigment was rubbed onto the spear heads for spiritual or ceremonial reasons, but these latest findings shed new light upon how it could have be used in other ways. See for yourself: