A cross post from: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/ Quote: <A point is decorated with a spiral groove filled with red ochre, which closely parallels similar marks that San make to identify their arrowheads when hunting.> Red ochre was also used by the ancients as an aggregate in adhesive. “Compound adhesives made from red ochre mixed with plant gum were used in the Middle Stone Age (MSA), South Africa. Replications reported here suggest that early artisans did not merely color their glues red; they deliberately effected physical transformations involving chemical changes from acidic to less acidic pH, dehydration of the adhesive near wood fires, and changes to mechanical workability and electrostatic forces. Some of the steps required for making compound adhesives seem impossible without multitasking and abstract thought.” Quote: <A mixture of beeswax, Euphorbia resin, and possibly egg, wrapped in vegetal fibers, dated to 40,000 BP, may have been used for hafting > At first I questioned the of the claim that the early artisans used Euphorbia resin in the hafting recipe. I thought that if they were desiring to create an adhesive, would it not be more logical to use propolis in the recipe? Propolis, when heated, will become somewhat hardened. And could the presence of Euphorbia in the mixture of beeswax have originated from Euphoribia propolis, which bees are known to collect?. So why beeswax? I research,,,, and find: Source: Implications for complex cognition from the hafting of tools with compound adhesives in the MiddleStone Age, South Africa “Hardness seems unimportant to the success or failure of adhesives, because synthetic Fe203 adhesives were harder than any other adhesives, yet they were always unsuccessful (Table 1), Whereas adhesives including beeswax were softer, yet they displayed desirable workability, cohesiveness, consistence, and plasticity Only a small amount of beeswax (for example, 15% by weight) was needed to achieve ideal plasticity and cohesiveness; larger amounts led to creep and shrinkage.” “The consistently most successful adhesives -that is, those that did not allow the stone insert to break from its haft when the tool was used were those with red ochre no. 15 (95% success rate; Table 1). Adhesives incorporating small amounts of beeswax were always successful.” “Adding ochre to gum seems to create a less brittle product and act as a desiccant to prevent gum from dissolving under damp conditions “ “Fire was an essential tool for dehydrating our adhesives; they dried within 4 hours near a controlled fire but took 6 days to dry in ambient temperatures.” Source: Implications for complex cognition from the hafting of tools with compound adhesives in the MiddleStone Age, South Africa http://wits.academia.edu/TammyHodgskiss/Papers/250379/Implications_for_Complex_Cognition_From_the_Hafting_of_Tools_With_Compound_Adhesives_In_the_Middle_Stone_Age_South_Africa Best Wishes, Joe Waggle *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm