60,000-Year-Old Ochre Surfaces Reveal Ancient Eland Proteins in South Africa
Researchers have recovered traces of animal protein from a 60,000-year-old layer of red ochre at the Klipdrift Shelter in South Africa, providing direct chemical evidence of perishable materials used by early humans. Published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study identifies type I collagen from the common eland, a large plains antelope native to East and Southern Africa, preserved within an extensive ochre-rich sediment surface.
The discovery offers a rare look into Middle Stone Age behaviors that left behind few enduring organic artifacts. While archaeologists frequently recover stone tools and mineral pigments, organic binders and treated animal hides decompose rapidly in warm soils. By extracting ancient proteins from archived sediment, scientists can now identify specific fauna associated with pigment use long after DNA has degraded.
Excavating Ancient Sediments at Klipdrift Shelter
The samples originate from the Klipdrift Complex, situated within coastal cliffs in South Africa’s De Hoop Nature Reserve. Within the site’s Howiesons Poort layers, researchers identified a flat, pigmented surface measuring more than one meter long, roughly 40 centimeters wide, and up to one centimeter thick. Ochre served both practical and symbolic functions in early southern African cultures, often functioning as a powder mixed with organic ingredients.
To detect these invisible residues, a team from Kyushu University, the University of Bergen, and the University of Copenhagen utilized palaeoproteomics. First author Zahra Haghighi and colleagues extracted proteins from archived sediment samples taken from the Klipdrift surface. Running the material through mass spectrometry broke the proteins into small fragments, which were then measured and cross-referenced against extensive protein databases and a custom collagen set.
Matching Peptides to the Common Eland
Two distinct samples yielded a clear peptide match, with short chains of amino acids pointing exclusively to type I collagen from Taurotragus oryx, commonly known as the common eland. According to the research team, these results support two primary interpretations: either early humans deliberately blended animal-derived organic material into the ochre mixture, or they treated eland hides directly on top of the ochre-rich surface. The complex structural composition of the deposit leans toward intentional mixing.
Organic ingredients associated with ancient pigment mixtures are exceptionally difficult to document across Africa because ancient DNA survives poorly in warm environments. Because proteins resist breakdown more effectively than DNA, they remain readable in sediment samples where genetic material is entirely absent. This method demonstrates that archaeological soils can preserve identifiable biological signatures, making sediment analysis a vital tool alongside bone and tooth fragments.
Testing Symbolic Traditions Across Stone Age Sites
The identification of eland protein holds added significance because the animal occupies a special place in San mythology. While a single discovery cannot prove that the eland held ritual importance during the Middle Stone Age, the study authors plan to replicate their palaeoproteomic pipeline at other sites from the same period to test whether this symbolic connection spans tens of thousands of years.
Improved analytical instruments and advanced mass spectrometry databases are expanding what palaeoproteomics can achieve in archaeological science. Future applications to sediment layers aim to clarify the exact composition of ancient binding agents and reveal the full scope of perishable materials handled by early human populations.