Archaeologists from South Africa have discovered rudimentary beds made by early humans by placing bundles of grass on a layer of ash. Sounds basic, but these stone age beds were more sober than they appear at first glance.
“We report the discovery of grass beds used to create comfortable areas for sleeping and working by people who lived in Border Cave at least 200,000 years ago,” explain the authors of a fascinating new to study published today in Science.
Border Cave, a rock shelter located in the Lebombo Mountains near the border of South Africa and eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), was intermittently occupied by humans from about 227,000 years ago to 1,000 years ago. The grass bed found here is now the oldest in the archaeological record, the previous record was 77,000 years old grass bed from Sibudu, South Africa.
Slaughtered bones, stone tools and cave paintings obviously give a glimpse into Paleolithic existence, but there is so much about Stone Age peoples that we do not know, including some of the more profound aspects of daily life. Without the required evidence, however, archaeologists cannot jump to conclusions. Plant material does not retain well in large time scales, and highlights the importance of the new evidence found at Border Cave.
G / O Media can get a commission
This rock cave is quite large, with interior parts that are well protected from the elements, which hides the excellent preservation of organic materials inside. Excavations at Border Cave from 2015 to 2019 revealed traces of ‘once fossilized grass’, in the words of Lyn Wadley, the lead author of the new study and a professor of archeology at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.
‘The grass layer would have been quite thick – probably at least 30 centimeters thick [12 inches]”And laid on a soft, clean ash base, so it would have been as comfortable as any camp bed or hay mountain,” Wadley explained in an email.
It was on top of this grass bed that Paleolithic people slept, fashionable stone tools, and possibly even ground red and orange ocher, which they may have used to paint objects and even themselves. Although we can not be sure, these were grass beds as well probably used for, uh, more recreational purposes.
During excavations, Wadley’s team discovered a strange, thin layer embedded beneath the cave floor. Suspecting something important, the archaeologists cut out small pieces, wrapped them in a protective plaster cover and sent them to a laboratory for further analysis. Over there, de researchers analyzed the samples with a scanning electron microscope and a spectrometer, while also performing a phytolytic analysis, in which plant materials are extracted from soil and sediment samples.
This work provided evidence of bilobate leaf cells, spines, stomata and other grass structures. The plant material was identified as belonging to the family Panicoideae, which includes a grass known as Panic maximum. Not surprisingly, this grass “grows today near the cave,” Wadley said.
While the authors hypothesize in the study, it is the people who lived Border Cave used bundles of this grass to produce bedding. Interestingly, the grass was placed on top of ash layers. This probably provided added comfort and a clean insulating surface, but as the authors point out in the study, the as provided protection as well as:
We speculate that such a placement of bedding, such as that on the ashes of previously burned bedding, was deliberate, as various ethnographies report it as repulsive crawling insects, which cannot move easily through fine powder, because it blocks their breathing and biting apparatus and eventually leaves them dehydrated.
That early people regularly their grass beds burning brought us to curiosity, so we asked Wadley to explain this seemingly counter-intuitive behavior.
‘Burning with grass calms the campsite from plagues, from rats to flies, and cleans fusty [stale] areas, ”she explained. “Fresh grass would then be introduced to make new, clean beds, and it would then possibly occupy the site longer, otherwise it would have to be abandoned. ”
Fortunately this particular 200,000-year-old bedding was not burned, suggesting the site was abandoned and the bed not supplemented after that particular occupation, she explained. Burnt layers found under this bed indicate the practice began very early. As for the ashes, evidence suggests that at Border Cave was collected that it was both from burning beds and campfire.
The researchers also found traces of burnt camphor wood. The smoke of this aromatic, medicineall plant is known to repel flying insects, and it can be used for this purpose in Border Cave.
Interestingly, the researchers also found traces of stone flakes and the production of blades in the bed, such as ground ocher particles. So it turned out that these grass beds, in addition to providing a comfortable place to sleep, were also a place to do daily tasks. It is of course possible that ocher was not processed on these beds and that the red and orange pigments fell out of their skin when these people rested. However, it’s still a damn interesting observation.
When asked if these variegated grasses could be used for anything other than bedding, such as tinder in fires, Wadley said the grass was arranged in a deliberate manner, often more than several meters, suggesting a desire for clean surfaces. to make for sleeping and working.
We also asked if these bundles could have collected grass naturally, without human intervention.
“Birds make nests and some animals sleep on grass, so this is a good question,” Wadley said. “The bed layers lie to the back of the cave, out of the wind and potentially safe from predators if fires are built for them. The cave is completely dry and nothing grows in it, so grass was brought to the back of the cave there; it could not grow in the interior of the cave. ‘
What’s more, the cave lies at the edge of a cliff, making it unlikely for grass to blow inside, she said.
“The grass occurs in layers, and on the layers are stone tools, bones from food, wood, which are things that people would have used on clean surfaces that would have worked as sleeping areas,” Wadley said. “Next to the beds are small rooms that would have been for domestic use and kept predators at bay. This type of arrangement is a typical hunter-gatherer type campsite. ”
As Wadley also explained, this seemingly simple discovery of 200,000-year-old grass bedding some very significant anthropological implications. It shows that early humans are currently living – about 100,000 years after the debut of Homo sapiens– they have used all their great brains to solve and innovate problems, in what is a characteristic of our kind. These people also exhibited the capacity to make and use fire and to seek use for their by-products, namely ash and medicine smoke.
“By using ash and medicinal plants to repel insects, we realize that they had some pharmacological knowledge,” she added. ‘Furthermore, they could extend their stay at favorite campsites by planning ahead and cleaning through burning fusty beds. They therefore had some basic knowledge of health care through hygiene practices. ”
Clearly, loosen up fan troublesome plagues were a regular period for these Paleolithic people. Not only that, they seem to be doing pretty well, by finding innovative ways to keep their homes free from creepy crawlies.. As this research shows, wanting and maintaining a comfortable, well-maintained bed is a timeless activity.
.
