Résumé
Ochre found in archaeological layers bears witness to the extensive social and symbolic activities of so-called “modern human culture”. Cultural abilities are likely a crucial part of the story explaining the success of the hominin lineage. However, it remains unclear when these cultural capacities came to be and what influence(s) cultural capacities might have had on our survival during periods of marked climate change and resource variability. Here we present, the terminal Pleistocene (~40-10ka) ochre assemblage from Boomplaas Cave (Western Cape, South Africa). It is currently one of the few sites in Africa with the unique combination of well-dated multi-proxy paleoenvironmental, dietary, and sedimentary records to demonstrate significant climate, vegetation, and resources change during the terminal Pleistocene. Tracking the source and use of ochre at Boomplaas Cave allows us to examine how territoriality varies in relation to environmental change. According to the influential economic defensibility model, we expect a decrease of territorial behaviors during increased environmental instability and reduced ecological productivity (<18ka). Relying on a naturalistic approach, the analyses of archaeological and geological raw materials by optical microscopy allow us to provide preliminary results about the evolution of ochre exploitation at Boomplaas Cave. Comparison of these preliminary results with paleoenvironmental records derived from nearby hyrax middens, micromammal assemblages, as well as lithic raw material diversity allows us to address the impact of environment changes on cultural behaviours at Boomplaas Cave.