Engravings on bone from the archaic hominin site of Lingjing (Xuchang, Henan, China)

The production of abstract engravings is considered an indicator of modern cognition and a mean for recording and transmitting information in a durable manner. We report the discovery of two engravings found at the Lingjing site (Henan, China), dated to 105-125kya, which has also yielded important hominin remains. The patterns consist of carefully engraved incisions on weathered rib fragments, excluding the possibility of an unintentional or utilitarian origin. Chemical analysis of residues inside the lines of one specimen identifies ochre. Our results suggests ochred engravings were deliberately used for symbolic purposes by East Asian early Late Pleistocene hominins.