Stratigraphic and spatial distribution of ochre and ochre processing tools at Porc-Epic Cave, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia Daniela Eugenia Rosso a, b, * , Francesco d’Errico a, c , João Zilhão b, d a UMR-CNRS 5199 PACEA, Préhistoire, Paléoenvironnement, Patrimoine, Université Bordeaux 1, Bâtiment B18, Avenue des Facultés, 33405 Talence, France b Departament de Prehistòria, Història Antiga i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain c Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Øysteinsgate 3, 5007 Bergen, Norway d Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain article info Article history: Available online xxx abstract Reassessment of the archaeological assemblages recovered by Kenneth D. Williamson in 1975 and 1976 at Porc-Epic Cave, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, demonstrates that the Middle Stone Age (MSA) levels of this site yielded one of the richest known collections of ochre and ochre processing tools from this period in terms of quantity. We analyze the vertical and horizontal distribution of all ochre fragments (n ¼ 4213) and ochre processing tools (n ¼ 23) of known provenance, and compare them with the distribution of other categories of archaeological remains. Our results suggest that no major post-depositional reworking occurred at the site. Virtually no ochre fragments and processing tools are recorded in the superficial levels of the site (0e60 cm below datum). Concomitant and statistically significant changes in the location of ochre and ochre processing tool concentrations are observed at various depth intervals in deeper levels, interpreted as changes in the location of the area devoted to ochre processing. Comparison of the vertical distributions of ochre fragments and lithics highlights that, in most cases, ochre and lithics covary. The vertical distribution of gastropod opercula (interpreted by other authors as ornaments) and of ochre fragments throughout the sequence also follows the same trends. However, concentrations of ochre and ochre processing tools do not coincide with that of the opercula, spatially. 14 C determinations obtained at Porc-Epic indicate a relatively short chronology for the accumulation of the main archaeo- logical deposits and date to ca. 40 ka cal BP the levels containing most of the ochre. This is consistent with the fact that no significant typo-technological variations in the lithics are observed throughout the sequence and argues in favour of the site reflecting a phase of the transition from the Middle Stone Age to the Later Stone Age (LSA) in this region of Africa. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Porc-Epic Cave (Dire Dawa, Ethiopia) is a key site, not only for the importance of the archaeological assemblage it has yielded, but also for its role in the history of Palaeolithic research in Africa. Our ongoing analyses of ochre fragments and ochre processing tools from Porc-Epic Cave have revealed a hitherto ignored qualitative and quantitative richness. In this paper, we aim to explore the in- formation potential of the ochre’s contextual data to reach a better understanding of the site’s formation process. Criteria to identify the emergence of modern cultures in the archaeological record depend on the significance attributed by researchers to specific categories of artifacts (McBrearty and Brooks, 2000; d’Errico, 2003; Henshilwood and Marean, 2003, 2006; Hovers and Belfer-Cohen, 2006; Conard, 2008; d’Errico and Stringer, 2011). Systematic exploitation of ochre is often considered as evidence for color symbolism (Watts, 1999, 2002, 2009), and a proxy for the origin of language (Barham, 2002; Knight, 2008; Henshilwood and Dubreuil, 2009; Watts, 2009; Rifkin, 2012). Selection of certain hues (Watts, 2010), collection from distant sources, and deliberate heating to modify its color (Pomiès et al., 1999; d’Errico et al., 2010) are used to support this view, which remains, nevertheless, controversial. Without denying the possibility of a symbolic use, other researchers rely on the presence of ochre on adhesives attached to tools, and the func- tional use of ochre in ethnographic contexts to argue that a * Corresponding author. UMR-CNRS 5199 PACEA, Préhistoire, Paléoenvironne- ment, Patrimoine, Université Bordeaux 1, Bâtiment B18, Avenuedes Facultés, 33405 Talence, France. E-mail address: d.rosso@pacea.u-bordeaux1.fr (D.E. Rosso). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.10.019 Quaternary International xxx (2013) 1e15 Please cite this article in press as: Rosso, D.E., et al., Stratigraphic and spatial distribution of ochre and ochre processing tools at Porc-Epic Cave, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.10.019