Identification of protein residues in several materials found at Blombos Cave

The processes that have led human populations of the past to develop the cultural innovations that make us different from our phylogenetically closer relatives (e.g., making composite tools, creating symbolic items, developing numerical symbol systems etc.) are the subject of intense debate. The emergence of cultural innovations implying the use of organic material (resins for hafting, poison for hunting, binders to produce paints, etc.) are highly relevant to these debates since the preparation of such compounds is often cognitively demanding and complex to transmit to new generations. We know that complex organic compounds were produced by both Middle Stone Age (MSA) populations in Africa and Neanderthals in Europe and the Near East since at least 180 ka, but evidence for these innovations remains circumstantial.