Scientists battle to reproduce ancient glue
Submitted by coldrum on Friday, 26 June 2009 Page Views: 3356
DiscoveriesIt was a sticky solution that helped bring down massive horned buffaloes, and proves that men from the middle Stone Age were a lot smarter than previously thought.In a cave in KwaZulu-Natal, scientists believe they have found the earliest examples of superglue, more than 70 000 years old. The glue, say the scientists, is just as good as the stuff found in hardware stores today.
Microscopic traces of the glue were discovered by Wits University residue analysts Bonny Williamson and Marlize Lombard. They found it on stone tools recovered from Sibudu cave, along the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.
The tools are believed to have been spear or arrow heads glued to wooden shafts.
But academics were stunned when they tried to make a batch of the ancient adhesive themselves.
"I thought I was stupid, I just couldn't get it right," said Lyn Wadley, an archaeologist at Wits University.
The ancient recipe included coarse red ochre, acacia gum and even a bit of sand. Sometimes a bit of animal fat was thrown in. Getting the right mix was just the first step, as the prehistoric adhesive had to be dried next to a fire.
Temperature control was crucial, Wadley found, as the adhesives could burn or boil, forming air bubbles.
They had to be competent chemists, alchemists and pyrotechnologists, Wadley believes.
After much trial and error, Wadley eventually made herself some glue - and with it walked away with a new respect for these prehistoric people.
"This shows that they were multitasking at some level, and demonstrates the use of complex cognitive abilities," said Wadley.
To test the strength of the glue, Wadley made a few replica stone tools and used them to chop wood. "The glue-maker needs to pay careful attention to the condition of ingredients before and during the procedure," Wadley said, "and must be able to switch attention between aspects of the methodology without losing track of the long-term goal."
She believes there is an overlap in the mental abilities of modern humans and those who lived in what is known as the middle Stone Age.
Wadley points out that even today some modern humans find multitasking difficult.
The research teams' findings have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Having industrial-strength glue was a necessity 70 000 years ago.
"You couldn't afford for a spear to break. Against something like a buffalo, you only had one chance," Wadley said.
These weren't the Cape buffaloes of today; this now extinct beast was known as Pelorovis antiquus and it had a horn span of 3m. Pelorovis dwarfed the Cape buffalo.
Wadley and her team have found Pelorovis bones in the cave, suggesting that the giant bovine was on the menu.
Some of the stone tools examined revealed that the glue was brittle, and Wadley believes it might have been used as part of a hunting technique to bring down big game like Pelorovis.
"We found some tools that only had plant gum. Maybe these stone tools would break off on impact, causing massive haemorrhaging in the animal. They would then perhaps follow the trail and wait for it to die," said Wadley.
The research team plans to examine other stone tools from earlier periods to see if they too contain the microscopic telltale signs of the substance.
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