ABSTRACT
This chapter builds on Arthur Gell’s writing to build a model for the gradual evolution of art out of hominin tactile engagement with material. The roots of art are traced back to the use of materials with remarkable sensory properties found in places that themselves are unusual. The focus in this section is Excavation 6 at Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa, and the Sima de los Huesos at Atapuerca, Spain, contexts that are dated between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago. From there, the discussion moves to the caches of objects found in a context at Blombos Cave, South Africa, dated to 100,000 years ago, that show evidence of assemblages of unusual materials. Blombos Cave also has produced the earliest known material with incised patterns, in the form of small ochre blocks with incised grid patterns. These incised pieces are found in contexts attributed to the Howiesons Poort, which is dated between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago. Similar incisions have also been found on ostrich eggshells at the Howiesons Poort sites of Diepkloof and Klipdrift. Rather than interpreting these incisions as evidence of early precursors of symbolic behavior, I suggest that these incisions served to wrap and enclose the material by altering the “skin” of the rock. This idea is extended to the context of the initial art objects in Europe dated to approximately 40,000 years ago, which are shaped to represent human and animal forms. These artifacts are situated as part of a long trajectory of wrapping material, which itself builds on the recognition of the sensory properties of material. The final sections briefly consider the development of leather and textiles in relation to the origin of art and glass mosque lamps as an example of the further elaboration in the wrapping of the “skin” of artifacts.
