All articles tagged with #cave art
Scientists used Raman spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging to detect charcoal in two Font-de-Gaume black figures, enabling radiocarbon dating that places the bison at about 13,400 calBP and suggests the mask-like image contains elements from multiple periods (roughly 9k–16k calBP), indicating cave art was created and revisited across millennia.
Scientists retrieved ancient human DNA from calcite crusts on cave walls and pigment on rock art across 11 caves in Spain and Portugal, a first that could someday help identify the artists behind prehistoric paintings. DNA was found in 24 painted panels, though only a few samples yielded usable ancient DNA, and ages are uncertain—likely at least a couple of thousand years old. The DNA may have been deposited via saliva or fluids during art creation, and some samples from unpainted cave areas also contained human DNA. While it raises exciting possibilities, researchers caution that it isn’t yet sure the DNA belongs to the artists, and future work will refine methods and expand sampling to more sites.
An international team reports the first recovery of ancient human DNA from cave-wall calcite on 24 rock-art panels across 11 caves in Spain and Portugal, including Escoural and Altamira. The DNA traces, sometimes found on painted or unpainted walls, imply people touched or lingered at these sites thousands of years ago and may record movement and activity beyond what the art alone shows. In some samples, nuclear DNA aligns with Western Hunter-Gatherers and allows occasional sex inferences; the Escoural painted sample yielded ancient mitochondrial DNA, while an Altamira pigment sample showed DNA fragments but no strong ancient signal. The human DNA is at least 4,000–5,000 years old, with uncertain dating, and researchers caution that sampling remains destructive. If refined, this approach could help map cave use, gender distribution, and possibly which groups created or interacted with the art, adding a new dimension to prehistoric studies.
Researchers analyzing cave-wall samples from Altamira, Escoural, and Covarrón found ancient human DNA preserved on pigment crusts and even unpigmented areas. Of 54 samples, five yielded authentic mitochondrial DNA (three women, one man, one unidentified), with some nuclear DNA linking individuals to Western Hunter-Gatherers. Preservation was rare (1 of 24 panels), suggesting cave walls can archive genetic traces of prehistoric visitors and offering a new, noninvasive way to study who touched the walls and how far Ice Age people ventured.
A multinational team led by Hipólito Collado recovered human DNA over 2,000 years old from cave-wall surfaces in Spain and Portugal, showing rock surfaces can preserve genetic material and enabling archaeogenetic study of prehistoric populations. Analyzed 24 rock-art panels across 11 caves (including Escoural and Covarón); the findings, published in Nature Communications as part of the First Art project, suggest caves could act as biological archives for ancient humans.
Researchers re-examined Bacon Hole in Wales and confirmed that the red pigmented stripes were intentionally painted by a finger about 17,100 years ago, making them the oldest cave art known in Britain and northwestern Europe and reshaping our understanding of Ice Age symbolism at Welsh sites.
A hand stencil from Liang Metanduno cave in Indonesia is dated to at least 67,800 years ago using U-series dating, making it the oldest reliably dated rock art and implying early Homo sapiens used symbolic art and may have carried cultural practices across migration routes toward Sahul.
A hand stencil in Liang Metando cave on Muna Island, Indonesia, has been dated to at least 67,800 years ago using uranium-series dating, making it the oldest known cave art and suggesting Homo sapiens may have created art earlier than previously thought and perhaps migrated to Australia even sooner than current estimates.
Dating from the Liang Metanduno cave on Sulawesi's Muna Island, hand stencils are about 67,800 years old, making them the oldest known cave art. The technique involved blowing pigment over a pressed hand, and the find suggests early Indonesians created sophisticated art long before similar European examples, with potential links to the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians.
Archaeologists discovered deliberate finger engravings in a sealed Neanderthal cave in France, dating back over 57,000 years, challenging the view that symbolic behavior was unique to modern humans and suggesting Neanderthals possessed complex cognitive abilities.
Recent discoveries confirm that Neanderthals created cave art over 64,000 years ago, predating modern humans' arrival in Europe, including hand stencils, geometric shapes, and other markings, challenging previous assumptions about their cognitive abilities.
Evidence suggests Neanderthals made and used ocher crayons for drawing or marking, with wear marks indicating they were used on soft surfaces. A 73,000-year-old drawing from South Africa and carved ocher pieces from Crimea demonstrate that Neanderthals engaged in complex cultural and artistic activities, challenging the view that they lacked symbolic or aesthetic behavior.
A 19th-century cave painting by the San people in South Africa depicts an extinct dicynodont animal, predating its scientific discovery by over a decade, suggesting indigenous awareness of extinct species long before formal paleontology.
Researchers have discovered that San cave paintings from the early 1800s depict a dicynodont, an extinct Permian animal, predating formal paleontological identification by at least a decade, highlighting indigenous knowledge of ancient fossils and their integration into cultural narratives.
A new study suggests that Ice Age cave art, dating back 40,000 years, was influenced by pareidolia, a phenomenon where humans see meaningful shapes in random patterns. Researchers found that many cave paintings in Northern Spain incorporated natural features of the cave walls, indicating that artists were influenced by both pareidolia and their own creativity. The study also explored the role of lighting conditions and advances our understanding of the experiences and influences of Upper Palaeolithic artists.