Scientists have discovered that cavemen in southern Africa 70,000 years ago were smarter than previously thought. One piece of evidence? A super-strong glue they made by combining red ochre and the sap of the acacia tree. They used the resulting adhesive to put together tools.
Acacia gum had been used long before that as a glue, but was brittle. Then some Stone Age geniuses figured out how to strengthen it by adding just the right proportion of iron-rich red ochre. This is even more impressive when you consider that because the raw materials for the glue were collected from various sources, their chemical makeup wasn’t consistent – so the formula had to be changed every time it was made. That required experimentation and a good memory – skills usually associated with modern humans.
(Source: National Geographic)
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