According to Agence France-Presse*, red ocher pigments found on the stalagmitic dome of Cueva de Ardales in Spain is definitely the work of Neanderthals, formally believed to be the brutish and unsophisticated cousins of modern humans.
A new study has confirmed that ancient symbolic art in a Spanish cave was the work of Neanderthals more than 60,000 years ago.
The issue had roiled the paleo-archaeology community ever since the publication of a 2018 paper attributing red ocher pigment found on the stalagmitic dome of Cueva de Ardales to the Neanderthals, a long-extinct ‘cousin’ species to humans.
The dating suggested the art was at least 64,800 years old, made at a time when modern humans did not inhabit the European continent.
When first discovered the findings were contentious, with some scientists insisting the pigments were the result of a natural iron oxide flow.
However, co-author of the new paper in the in the Journal of the US Academy of Sciences, Francesco d’Errico said updated analysis revealed the composition and placement of the pigments were not consistent with natural processes.
“Instead, the pigments were applied through splattering and blowing,” Professor d’Errico said.
“What’s more, their texture does not match natural samples taken from the caves, suggesting the pigments came from an external source.”
He said more detailed dating showed that the pigments were applied at different points in time, separated by more than 10,000 years.
“This supports the hypothesis that the Neanderthals came on several occasions, over several thousand years, to mark the cave with pigments,” Professor d’Errico said.
He said it was difficult to compare the Neanderthal art to wall paintings made by prehistoric modern humans, such as those found in the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc cave of France, made more than 30,000 years ago.
“However the new finding adds to increasing evidence that Neanderthals, whose lineage went extinct around 40,000 years ago, were not the boorish relatives of Homo sapiens they were long portrayed to be,” Professor d’Errico said.
The team wrote that the pigments might not be considered ‘art’ in the narrow sense of the word. “They were the result of graphic behaviour intent on perpetuating the symbolic significance of a space”.
The team said the cave formations “played a fundamental role in the symbolic systems of some Neanderthal communities,” though what those symbols meant remained a mystery.
*Agence France-Presse is an international news agency headquartered in Paris, France.
This article first appeared at france24.com.
