Britain's Oldest Cave Art Vindicated, Dating to 17,000 Years Ago
TL;DR Summary
New dating and image-analysis of Bacon Hole cave in south Wales confirm that its red markings are ancient abstract art dating to about 17,000 years ago, making them the oldest rock art in the British Isles; previously dismissed as mineral staining and graffiti, uranium–thorium dating and enhanced imagery reveal human-like symbolic lines and dots, likely created by Upper Paleolithic hunter–gatherers, with surrounding mineral deposits supporting the minimum age.
- Researchers Confirm Oldest Cave Art in Britain a Century After It Was Dismissed as a Mineral Deposit Gizmodo
- Striped rock dismissed as natural in 1928 reclassified as UK’s oldest cave art | Archaeology The Guardian
- Red stripes in Welsh cave declared Britain’s oldest art after being dismissed as a natural phenomenon NBC News
- Britain's earliest prehistoric art found in Gower's Bacon Hole cave BBC
- Britain's oldest cave art may have been rediscovered in Bacon Hole cave Phys.org
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