Dye was already being produced and used 100,000 years ago, an international team of researchers found in South Africa. They discovered two bowls containing traces of dye from sea snails in the Blombos-Cave near Cape Town. It is still unclear what the dye was used for: body paint, skin protection, or paint for art? The two bowls are now on display in the Iziko Museum in Cape Town. Read the original news story at Spiegel Online (in German).
Published on October 14, 2011