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41-400: Sibudu Cave is a rock shelter in a sandstone cliff in northern KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa. It is an important Middle Stone Age site occupied, with some gaps, from 77 000 years ago to 38 000 years ago. Evidence of some of the earliest examples of modern human technology has been found in the shelter (although the earliest known spears date back 400 000 years). The evidence in

82-414: A better position to contribute to an understanding of the evolution of the modern mind. Some of these hafted points might have been launched from bows. While "most attributes such as micro-residue distribution patterns and micro-wear will develop similarly on points used to tip spears, darts or arrows" and "explicit tests for distinctions between thrown spears and projected arrows have not yet been conducted"

123-644: A pattern whereby innovations are not further and progressively developed, but arise and then disappear. For instance, the shell beads occur in the Still Bay layers, but are absent from the Howiesons Poort ones, in Sibudu, and elsewhere. This challenges the idea that the early development of technology by early humans was a process of accumulation of improvements. In discussing the findings of artefacts at Sibudu researchers have commented that they: can hardly be used to support

164-425: A refreshing flavor similar to pine and cedar. Chios mastic gum has been used as a traditional medicine over the last 2,500 years. The word mastic is derived indirectly from Ancient Greek : μαστίχη , lit.   'mastic', which may be related to Ancient Greek: μασᾶσθοι , lit.   'chew'. The first mention of actual mastic 'tears' was by Hippocrates . Hippocrates used mastic for

205-556: Is a secondary cooperative organisation and acts as the collective representative organ of twenty primary cooperatives founded in the twenty-four mastic villages. it has the exclusive management of natural Chios Mastiha in Greece and abroad. The Chios Mastic Museum offers a permanent exhibition about mastic production on the island, explaining its history and cultivation techniques as well as demonstrating its different uses today. Traditionally there has also been limited production of mastic on

246-627: Is added to booza ( Levantine ice cream), and in Turkey, mastic is widely used in desserts such as Turkish delight and dondurma , in puddings such as sütlaç , salep , tavuk göğsü , mamelika , and in soft drinks. Mastic syrup is added to Turkish coffee on the Aegean coast. In Greece, mastic is used in liqueurs such as Mastika (or Mastichato), in a spoon sweet known as a "submarine" ( Greek : υποβρύχιο , romanized :  ypovríchio ), in beverages, chewing gum, sweets, desserts, breads and cheese. It

287-410: Is also known as tears of Chios , being traditionally produced on the island Chios , and, like other natural resins , is produced in "tears" or droplets. Mastic is excreted by the resin glands of certain trees and dries into pieces of brittle, translucent resin. When chewed, the resin softens and becomes a bright white and opaque gum. The flavor is bitter at first, but after some chewing, it releases

328-562: Is also produced. As of 2024 there are twenty-four mastichochoria, or mastic villages, on the island of Chios dedicated to the cultivation and production of mastic. The designation "Masticha Chiou" ("Khios mastic") is protected by a European Union protected designation of origin (PDO). The island's mastic production is controlled by a co-operative. Founded in 1938, the Chios Gum Mastic Growers Association ( Greek : Ένωση Μαστιχοπαραγωγών Χίου ), abbreviated CGMGA ,

369-461: Is also used to stabilise loukoumi and ice cream. In the Maghreb , mastic is used mainly in cakes, sweets, and pastries and as a stabilizer in meringue and nougat . In Morocco, mastic is used in the preparation of smoked foods. One of the earliest uses of mastic was as chewing gum . Mastic (מסטיק) is the colloquial Hebrew word for chewing gum. Some scholars identify the bakha mentioned in

410-504: Is implied. The employment of snares also would demonstrate a practical understanding of the latent energy stored in bent branches, the main principle of bow construction. The use of Cryptocarya leaves in bedding indicates that early use of herbal medicines may have awarded selective advantages to humans, and the use of such plants implies a new dimension to the behaviour of early humans at this time. Artefacts such as piecing needles, arrows, and shell beads at Sibudu and elsewhere occur in

451-635: Is permissible." Mastic is an essential ingredient of chrism , the holy oil used for anointing by the Eastern Orthodox Churches . Ancient Greek physicians such as Hippocrates , Dioscorides , Galenus , and Theophrastus recommended it for a range of gastrointestinal disorders . During 15th century, Andrés Laguna , a prominent Spanish physician and botanist, utilized mastic gum to treat pyorrhea and advocated its use in dental care formulations, including infusions and concoctions for toothpaste and breath fresheners . He also recommended

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492-458: The Bible with the mastic plant. Bakha appears to be derived from Hebrew : בכא , weeping, and is thought to refer to the "tears" of resin secreted by the mastic plant. Ancient Jewish halachic sources indicate mastic as a treatment for bad breath: "Mastic is not chewed on Shabbat . When [is it forbidden to chew mastic on Shabbat]? When the intention is medicinal. If it is used for bad breath, it

533-525: The colloquialism "leatherman caves", as they were inhabited by the Leatherman over three decades in the late 19th century. The Cumberland stitchwort ( Minuartia cumberlandensis ) is an endangered species of plant which is found only in rock shelters in Kentucky and Tennessee. Mastic (plant resin) Mastic ( Greek : Μαστίχα ) is a resin obtained from the mastic tree ( Pistacia lentiscus ). It

574-512: The Çeşme peninsula, on the Turkish coast eight nautical miles from Chios, with similar ecological conditions suitable for mastic production. The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA) has led an effort to protect the native Turkish mastic trees and to plant new ones in the Çeşme peninsula to revive viable commercial production of

615-519: The "classic" out of Africa scenario, which predicts increasing complexity and accretion of innovations during the MSA, determined by biological change. Instead, they appear, disappear, and re-appear in a way that best fits a scenario in which historical contingencies and environmental, rather than cognitive, changes are seen as main drivers. The idea that environmental change was responsible for this pattern has been questioned, and instead it has been suggested that

656-700: The Natal Museum (unpublished work). Lyn Wadley of the University of the Witwatersrand started renewed excavations in September 1998. The occupations at Sibudu are divided into pre-Still Bay, Still Bay ( 72 000 –71 000 years ago), Howiesons Poort (before 61 000 years ago), post-Howiesons Poort ( 58 500 years ago), late ( 47 700 years ago), and final Middle Stone Age phases ( 38 600 years ago). There were occupation gaps of approximately 10 000 years between

697-566: The artisan had to think about the correct position for placing stone inserts on the shafts.... Although fully modern behaviour is recognisable relatively late in the MSA, the circumstantial evidence provided here implies that people who made compound adhesives in the MSA shared at least some advanced behaviours with their modern successors. In a commentary upon this research it has been suggested that instead of focusing upon language, with activities that tax reasoning ability and are also visible archaeologically, such as shafting, archaeologists are in

738-454: The available clinical studies, though numerous, were too small and methodologically weak to support a "well-established use" designation for mastic resin. These studies primarily investigated its oral (as a sole agent) and cutaneous applications (in combination with other products). Despite these shortcomings, the EMA found that these studies did not raise any significant safety concerns, thus supporting

779-534: The complexity of their creation and processing has been presented as evidence of continuity between early human cognition and that of modern humans. In 2024, the Sibudu Cave became a part of the World Heritage Site of Pleistocene Occupation Sites of South Africa. Sibudu Cave is a rock shelter , located roughly 40 km (25 mi) north of the city of Durban and about 15 km (9 mi) inland, near

820-545: The driving factors were changes in the social networks related to changes in population density. In 2015, the South African government submitted a proposal to add the cave to the list of World Heritage Sites and it has been placed on the UNESCO list of tentative sites as a potential future 'serial nomination' together with Blombos Cave , Pinnacle Point , Klasies River Caves , Border Cave , and Diepkloof Rock Shelter . Three of

861-661: The fabrication of this adhesive, researchers concluded that the Middle Stone Age (MSA) humans at Sibudu would have required the multilevel mental operations and abstract thought capabilities of modern people to do this. Artisans living in the MSA must have been able to think in abstract terms about properties of plant gums and natural iron products, even though they lacked empirical means for gauging them. Qualities of gum, such as wet, sticky, and viscous, were mentally abstracted, and these meanings counterpoised against ochre properties, such as dry, loose, and dehydrating. Simultaneously,

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902-442: The local growers. The harvest is known as kentos and takes place from the beginning of July to the beginning of October. First, the area around the trees is cleared and sprinkled with inert calcium carbonate . Then, every 4–5 days, 5–10 incisions are made in the bark of each tree to release the resin. As these clear drops hang from the tree, and sparkle in the sunlight, they are said to resemble crystalline teardrops; for this reason,

943-522: The mastic resin is known as the "tears of Chios". It takes about 15–20 days for the first resin crystals to harden and fall to the ground. The farmers then collect the pieces of dry mastic and wash them in natural spring water, and spend most of the winter cleaning and separating the tears from the sand. This cleaning process is performed by hand and is regulated by the legislative framework of the Mastic Growers' Association. In addition to mastic, mastic oil

984-464: The medicinal use of powdered mastic. The EMA reports also note the antimicrobial activity of mastic in non-clinical in vitro studies and its particular effectiveness against Helicobacter pylori . Based on these findings, the EMA approved the use of powdered mastic as a traditional herbal medicinal product for two indications: The agency stipulated that due to the lack of sufficient data, the use of mastic in children , during pregnancy , and lactation

1025-418: The most important factor in rockhouse formation is frost spalling , where the softer, more porous rock underneath is pushed off, tiny pieces at a time, by frost expansion from water frozen in the pores. Erosion from moving water is seldom a significant factor. Many rock shelters are found under waterfalls . Rock shelters are often important archaeologically . Because rock shelters form natural shelters from

1066-404: The period after the Howiesons Poort for hunting weapons, such as the tips of spears. Use–trace analysis suggests that many of these points were hafted with ochre-loaded adhesives. The replication of shafted tool manufacture using only methods and materials available at Sibudu has enabled the identification of the complexity of the thought processes that it required. The stone spear was embedded in

1107-518: The post-Howiesons Poort and the late Middle Stone Age stage, and the late and final Middle Stone periods. There was no Late Stone Age occupation, although there was an Iron Age occupation about 1000 B.C. Evidence suggests these were dry periods and the shelter was occupied only during wet climatic conditions. The pre-Still Bay occupation had a lithic flake -based industry and made few tools. The Still Bay occupation, in addition to such flakes, made bifacial tools and points . Trace use analysis on

1148-701: The prevention of digestive problems, colds and as a breath freshener. Romans used mastic along with honey, pepper, and egg in the spiced wine conditum paradoxum . Under the Byzantine Empire, the mastic trade became the Emperor's monopoly. In the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan gathered the finest mastic crop to send to his harem. During the Ottoman rule of Chios, mastic was worth its weight in gold. The penalty for stealing mastic

1189-519: The product. As part of this project, which was expected to last through 2016, over 3,000 mastic tree saplings were planted between 2008 and October 2011 to over 368 acres (149 hectares) of dedicated farm land provided by the Izmir Institute of Technology . In the Eastern Mediterranean , mastic is commonly used in brioches , ice cream, and other desserts. In Syria and Palestine , mastic

1230-417: The researchers find "contextual support" for the use of these points on arrows: a broad range of animals were hunted, with an emphasis on taxa that prefer closed forested niches, including fast moving, terrestrial and arboreal animals. This is an argument for the use of traps, perhaps including snares. If snares were used, the use of cords and knots, which also would have been adequate for the production of bows,

1271-569: The sap from invaders. Although the liqueur is much younger, it is still tied up with Greek history. Digestive liqueurs, similar to Mastichato (Mastika), but made with grapes, were known as Greek elixirs before the French Revolution. The production of mastic was threatened by the Chios forest fire that destroyed some mastic groves in August 2012. Producing the mastic resin is a whole-year process for

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1312-460: The segment of an orange, with a sharp cutting edge on the straight lateral and an intentionally blunted and curved back. These were attached to shafts or handles by means of ochre and plant adhesive or alternatively fat mixed with plant material. Segments often were made with a cutting edge along their entire length, which required that they be attached to their hafts without twine and so, calls for particularly strong adhesive glue. Points were used in

1353-512: The shelter includes the earliest bone arrow ( 61 000 years old), and the earliest stone arrows (64,000 years old), the earliest needle ( 61 000 years old), the earliest use of heat-treated mixed compound gluing ( 61 000 years ago), and an example of the use of bedding ( 77 000 years ago) which for a while was the oldest known example (an older example from 200 000 years ago was recently discovered at Border Cave , South Africa). The use of glues and bedding are of particular interest, because

1394-534: The sites gained the World Heritage Status in 2024. Rock shelter Rock shelters form because a rock stratum such as sandstone that is resistant to erosion and weathering has formed a cliff or bluff, but a softer stratum, more subject to erosion and weathering, lies just below the resistant stratum, and thus undercuts the cliff. In arid areas, wind erosion ( Aeolian erosion ) can be an important factor in rockhouse formation. In most humid areas,

1435-770: The tips of the points finds evidence of compound adhesives on their bases where they would once have been hafted to shafts. Various examples of early human technology have been found: The plant bedding consisted of sedge and other monocotyledons topped with aromatic leaves containing natural insecticidal and larvicidal chemicals. The leaves were all from Cape laurel ( Cryptocarya woodii ) which, when crushed, are aromatic and contain traces of α- pyrones , cryptofolione , and goniothalamin , chemicals that have insecticidal and larvicidal properties against, for example, mosquitoes. Cryptocarya species are still used extensively in traditional medicine. The Howiesons Poort occupation manufactured blade tools. These blades are shaped like

1476-667: The town of Tongaat . It is in a steep, forested cliff facing WSW that overlooks the Tongati River in an area that is now a sugar cane plantation. The shelter was formed by erosional downcutting of the Tongati River, which now lies 10 m (33 ft) below the shelter. Its floor is 55 m (180 ft) long, and about 18 m (59 ft) in width. It has a large collection of Middle Stone Age deposits that are well preserved organically and accurately dated using optically stimulated luminescence . The first excavations following its discovery in 1983 were carried out by Aron Mazel of

1517-537: The traditional use of mastic. The assessment highlighted that mastic has been part of traditional and folk medicine for more than 30 years in several countries such as Iraq , Turkey , Japan , South Korea , the USA , and particularly, within the European Union, in Greece. Considering this long-standing use, the EMA deemed the requirements for traditional medicinal products according to Directive 2001/83/EC to be fulfilled for

1558-494: The use of the tree's twigs as toothpicks . Beyond its oral health applications, mastic gum was applied as a beauty enhancer for the skin and used to alleviate menstrual discomfort . It was also utilized to mask the unpleasant odors associated with chronic mercury exposure . In February 2016, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published the final assessment of Pistacia lentiscus L. resin. The EMA concluded that

1599-484: The weather, prehistoric humans often used them as living-places, and left behind debris, tools, and other artifacts . In mountainous areas the shelters can also be important for mountaineers . Transhumant nomads, people who move with their livestock - often from lower permanent winter residences in the valleys to higher summer pastures - frequently build semi-permanent camps, often of rocks. In western Connecticut and eastern New York , many rock shelters are known by

1640-493: The wood using a compound adhesive made up of plant gum, red ochre, and to aid the workability, possibly a small amount of beeswax, coarse particles, or fat. This preliminary mixture had to have the correct ingredient proportions and then, before shafting, undergo a controlled heat treatment stage. This heating had to avoid boiling or dehydrating the mixture too much, otherwise it would weaken the resulting mastic . The maker also had to reduce its acidity . By experimentally recreating

1681-575: Was execution by order of the sultans. In the Chios Massacre of 1822, the people of the Mastichochoria region were spared by the sultan to provide mastic to him and his harem. Sakız Adası , the Turkish name for the island of Chios, means 'gum island'. The mastic villages are fortress-like, out of sight from the sea, surrounded by high walls and with no doors at street level (meaning that the villages were entered only by ladders), in order to protect

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