drawing

A new study reveals that Neanderthals in Crimea deliberately shaped ochre into crayon-like tools and used them to create marks and drawings as early as 70,000 years ago. The discovery, published in the journal Science Advances, provides compelling evidence that these ancient humans engaged in symbolic behaviors once thought to be uniquely modern human traits. Sixteen pieces of ochre from Middle Paleolithic sites in Crimea and Ukraine were analyzed using advanced techniques, revealing traces of scraping, grinding, and deliberate resharpening that suggest far more than practical applications. The research focused on artifacts recovered from three rock shelters in Crimea's Belogorsk region: Zaskalnaya V, Zaskalnaya VI, and Prolom II, along with two pieces from Mukhovets in northern Ukraine. Lead researcher Francesco