长期以来赭石利用行为被视为人类行为现代性的标志之一,受到国内外考古学界的普遍关注。本文回溯和梳理了全球背景下赭石利用的起源、发展及其与人类演化史的关系。在现代人广泛分布于全球之后,赭石利用行为更加丰富和多样化地出现在各地,然而现有考古证据表明该行为并不是解剖学意义上的现代人突变性的发明。赭石利用不能被单纯地定义为现代人行为,而应是有着长久演化积累的现代性行为之一。在长期传播与演化过程中,赭石的功能从意识形态、艺术表达等逐渐扩展到作为矿物成分被用于实际生产生活。赭石的利用历史可追溯到中更新世中期,但其广泛分布仍与晚更新世以来现代人的广泛扩散直接相关,对于理解现代人的意识形态、社会组织方式以及艺术表达、精神文化发展都具有重要的意义。国内目前所发表的相关考古学证据相对较少,以下马碑遗址为代表的材料,也恰处于现代人在全球广泛扩散的窗口期,并伴有进步的细小石器镶嵌使用的证据,成为认识东亚现代人行为的关键性考古证据。

The ochre using has been long featured centrally in debates about the origins of symbolic and cognitively modern human behavior. In this paper, we reviewed the ochre using archaeological evidence internationally to clarify its origin, developmental process and its relationship with modern human evolution. Though the ochre using could be dated back to the Middle Pleistocene and also could happened to some archaic hominins, such as Neanderthals, it is deeply related to the origin and dispersal of modern human. We also reviewed the current archaeological evidence related to the ochre exploration in China. It is quite evident that the ochre using behaviors were clear recorded 40,000 years ago, at the time window modern human arrived at North China indicated by fossil and DNA evidence.

Exploitation of ochre, happened between 300 ka and 500 ka in Africa, is a part of technique innovations or behavioral shifts recorded in Middle Pleistocene, and contemporaneous with the raise of more hominin species (including our own species). Afterwards, around 200 ka, more ochre using evidence were recorded in Africa, Europe and Western Asia. Until around 100 ka, the clear ochre processing evidence and application of ochre on body decoration, cave paintings and even as adhesive. The "ochre using" emerged in large numbers during this period, could be related the dispersal of modern human and the increasing of some archaic hominins. Until around 40 ka, when the modern human widely distributed, diverse ochre applications appeared worldwide. When reviewing the archaeological evidence from China, within this time window, the ochre processing of Xiamabei was occurred, and shows that new adaptations were taking place as modern humans entered the region roughly 40,000 years ago. Afterwards, more archaeological evidence appeared in North and South China, such as the well-known finding in Zhoukoudian Upper Cave, and recently published rock paintings at Tiger Leaping Gorge. Although residue analysis indicated that the presence of ochre within the incised lines in Lingjing site can be dated back to around 100 ka BP, this may illustrate the possibility of ochre exploration of other Late Pleistocene hominins. We should not rule out the possibility that much older ochre exploration evidence would be identified in the future archaeological studies.

We augured that the behavior adaptation and evolution should be a process, not an event. For our own species, the so called ‘behavioral modernity’ could be rooted in the evolutionary history of some late archaic hominins. The ochre using widespread after the modern human occupied most of the world, and it is a key element of the package of behavioral modernity, but it is not an event of invention of Homo sapiens.