> when the [notched] Lebombo bone was determined to be some 42,000 years old, it instantly became one of the most intriguing archaeological artifacts ever found

> when the [notched] Lebombo bone was determined to be some 42,000 years old, it instantly became one of the most intriguing archaeological artifacts ever found. Not only does it put a date on when Homo sapiens started counting, it also marks the point at which we began to delegate our memories to external devices Awesome quick mind-expanding read. I always used to point out to art history students that evidence of painting [ground pigment stones] predates any actual preserved paintings / notches / engravings etc by a lot and even predates our speciation. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigment#History https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigment#History We have no idea what humans and protohumans were painting for several hundred thousand years, maybe just our bodies for cooling benefits, maybe patterns, maybe counting marks. Who knows but fun to speculate on especially with such unfathomable stretches of time. Permaculture vibes. Always blows my mind.