'Oldest known drawing' found on tiny rock in South Africa

Scientists say they have discovered humanity's oldest known drawing on a small fragment of rock in South Africa. The drawing is about 73,000 years old, and shows cross-hatch lines sketched onto the stone with red ochre pigment. Scientists discovered the small fragment of the drawing - which some say looks a bit like a hashtag - in Blombos Cave on the southern coast.


The find is "a prime indicator of modern cognition" in our species, the report says. While scientists have found older engravings around the world, research published on Wednesday in the journal Nature says the lines on this stone mark the first abstract drawing. The article says the ancient artist used an "ochre crayon" to etch it onto the stone. Humanity has used ochre, a clay earth pigment, for at least 285,000 years.

The drawing was "probably more complex" in its entirety, archaeologist Christopher Henshilwood said. "The abrupt termination of all lines on the fragment edges indicates that the pattern originally extended over a larger surface," he said.