Dr Izzy Wisher
@izzywisher.bsky.social
Cave art expert and cognitive archaeologist. Currently a postdoc on the ERC project eSYMb: The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behaviour at Aarhus University. 🇬🇧 in 🇩🇰.
Say hi to the York folks from me! Hope the event goes fantastic too!
November 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Say hi to the York folks from me! Hope the event goes fantastic too!
Thanks for sharing! 😊
October 7, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Thanks for sharing! 😊
Amazing, I hadn't seen this one!
September 29, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Amazing, I hadn't seen this one!
And in National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
This is the oldest blue pigment ever discovered in Europe
The discovery of a stone long overlooked in a German museum suggests that Ice Age communities experimented with vivid hues far earlier than scholars believed.
www.nationalgeographic.com
September 29, 2025 at 11:12 AM
And in National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
And some lovely coverage by @spoke32.bsky.social for Science! Check it out 👇
The color blue never shows up in Paleolithic cave paintings. Archaeologists assumed that's because blue pigments and dyes were unknown in prehistory. A new study by @izzywisher.bsky.social in @antiquity.ac.uk, along with an even older indigo find, suggest otherwise. @science.org
Paleolithic painters had the blues
Two recent studies shine light on the earliest known artistic usages of blue pigment
www.science.org
September 29, 2025 at 9:25 AM
And some lovely coverage by @spoke32.bsky.social for Science! Check it out 👇
This all started with @felixthehauskat.bsky.social showing me a "lamp" and snowballed into the mother-of-all side projects! HUGE thank you to the heroic efforts of everyone involved (from no less than 5 countries, and many more institutions) - and supported by the IPERION HORIZON grant.
September 29, 2025 at 8:43 AM
This all started with @felixthehauskat.bsky.social showing me a "lamp" and snowballed into the mother-of-all side projects! HUGE thank you to the heroic efforts of everyone involved (from no less than 5 countries, and many more institutions) - and supported by the IPERION HORIZON grant.
Does this imply a more deliberate use of colour in the Palaeolithic? We hope our research will open up new avenues for exploring this. Our stone is rather... unremarkable, and we plan to re-examine some of these (boring) stones in future work to try and expand our knowledge of Palaeo-palettes!
September 29, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Does this imply a more deliberate use of colour in the Palaeolithic? We hope our research will open up new avenues for exploring this. Our stone is rather... unremarkable, and we plan to re-examine some of these (boring) stones in future work to try and expand our knowledge of Palaeo-palettes!
We suggest they were using it for archaeologically-invisible activities, like body paint. In later prehistory, azurite is found in female burials and on cosmetic applicators at Çatalhöyük (but not used for wall paintings) and decorates the hair/eyes of Bronze Age female figurines from Greece.
September 29, 2025 at 8:43 AM
We suggest they were using it for archaeologically-invisible activities, like body paint. In later prehistory, azurite is found in female burials and on cosmetic applicators at Çatalhöyük (but not used for wall paintings) and decorates the hair/eyes of Bronze Age female figurines from Greece.
Blue is a colour that is absent from Palaeo art, which is usually reds and blacks. It's been assumed this is due to resource accessibility. BUT azurite occurs in near-surface deposits and we know there is some mining for certain materials around this time. So if not art, what did they use blue for?
September 29, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Blue is a colour that is absent from Palaeo art, which is usually reds and blacks. It's been assumed this is due to resource accessibility. BUT azurite occurs in near-surface deposits and we know there is some mining for certain materials around this time. So if not art, what did they use blue for?
Oh!! How is Nicky doing? I do miss York - it’s been too long since I was last there!
July 25, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Oh!! How is Nicky doing? I do miss York - it’s been too long since I was last there!
Congratulations, Greg! 😊
July 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Congratulations, Greg! 😊
It would make for a great tattoo!
July 4, 2025 at 2:58 PM
It would make for a great tattoo!