60,000-year-old ostrich eggshells engraved with geometric patterns that stayed consistent across generations - proof of cultural transmission and group identity. These were likely water containers marked with ownership symbols, making them the world's oldest 'canteens'.
Nkansah Rexford, CC BY-SA 3.0
The World's Oldest Graphic Tradition
In Diepkloof Rock Shelter, a site overlooking the Verlorenvlei River about 17 kilometers from the Atlantic coast, archaeologists have uncovered a remarkable record of early human behavior. The shelter contains one of southern Africa's most complete Middle Stone Age sequences, with evidence of human occupation stretching from over 130,000 to around 45,000 years ago. Within these layers, specifically from the Howiesons Poort period around 60,000 years ago, excavators found hundreds of fragments of ostrich eggshells marked with deliberate, repeating geometric patterns.
More than 400 engraved fragments have been found, believed to come from an estimated 25 separate eggshell containers. These were not random marks. The engravings follow a standardized set of rules, forming a graphic tradition that lasted for several thousand years. The eggshells of Struthio camelus (the common ostrich) were used as water canteens, capable of holding about one liter of liquid. Evidence of intentionally drilled holes near the top of some eggs confirms their use as flasks, a technology that would have been a significant advantage for hunter-gatherers traveling through semi-arid landscapes.
A System of Symbols
The collection of engravings from Diepkloof is large enough for researchers to identify distinct, recurring motifs. This is the earliest known evidence of a human group creating and using a standardized symbolic system. The two primary patterns identified are a hatched-band motif and another based on sub-parallel or intersecting lines. The hatched-band design typically consists of two long parallel lines, which may have circled the egg, intersected by numerous shorter lines.
Analysis of the engraving process shows a consistent method. For the hatched-band motif, the artists always engraved the long parallel lines first before adding the intersecting hatches. The presence of these specific patterns across many layers of sediment suggests they were part of a shared culture, passed down through generations. These symbols likely communicated information, possibly identifying the owner of the canteen or the group they belonged to. The designs changed slightly over time; the hatched-band motif is more common in older layers, while patterns of parallel lines become more frequent in younger layers. This evolution of style supports the idea of a long-lived, dynamic symbolic tradition that predates European cave art by 30,000 years.
💡Fun Facts
An ostrich eggshell can hold approximately 1 liter of water, making it an ideal natural water bottle for hunter-gatherer societies.
Researchers, led by Pierre-Jean Texier, determined that the engravings were difficult to make, requiring sharp stone tools like flint to cut through the hard outer layer of the shell.
In 2024, Diepkloof Rock Shelter was inscribed as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site called "The Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour: The Pleistocene Occupation Sites of South Africa."
While ostrich eggshell fragments were found throughout the site's long occupational history, engravings only appear during the Howiesons Poort period, between about 65,000 and 55,000 years ago.
