The debate regarding the status of the Blombos ochre engravings and shell beads for gauging the timeline of when cognitive abilities and symbolic intent appeared has been controversial. This is mainly due to the fact that what is referred to as symbolic is often too loosely defined and is therefore attributed to artefacts in an indiscriminate way. Recent evidence from various concurrent sites in southern Africa, including Blombos, provide the opportunity for a more nuanced analysis of the probable level of symbolic intent and how this relates to neuro-cognitive precursors. In what follows, it will be shown that, although some of the southern African artefacts do indeed demonstrate particular kinds of ‘symbolic’ intent, others need to be approached with caution. Data from the visual brain is presented that provides crucial evidence as to the appropriate level of intent suggested by the engravings and shell beads from the southern Africa context.