A cave painting over 60,000 years ago was discovered and found to be a work of art by Neanderthal

byErich Ferdinand

It is about 40,000 years ago that the old human being who lived around EuropeNeanderthal people(Homo sapiens · neanderthalensis). Neanderthals are strictly human beings of a different line from the current human beings (Homo sapiens sapiens), but it is said by the German research team that the art activity was done in the same way as us, the American scientific journal It is published in Science electronic version.

U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art | Science
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6378/912.full

Ancient cave paintings turn out to be by Neanderthals, not humans - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/22/17041426/neanderthals-cave-painting-spain-uranium-dating

The most famous French in the paintings drawn in the caveLascaux cave muralWas alive about 20,000 years agoCro-MagnonIt turns out that it was drawn by. On the other hand, it was in the southern part of France that was considered the oldest cave paintingShweve cave muralIt is said that it was drawn about 32,000 years ago. In the common opinion that the Neanderthal people were extinct before about 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, although there was a claim that the Neanderthal people drew Shoeve cave paintings and performed art activities, there was no deterministic evidence and the hypothesis remained It was said that it was.

In the cave, calcium carbonate dissolved in water gradually forms a layer and makes walls and stalactites. Therefore, the research team collected carbonate of three cave mural paintings such as La Pasiega Cave, Mart Lavi Esso Cave, and Dona Trinidad Cave as samples,Uranium-thorium methodWe performed dating with a method called. By measuring the top and bottom of the layer where the picture is drawn it is the aim to identify the age where the picture was drawn.


As a result, the cave paintings that were investigated, it was found that most new but also that about 64,800 years ago. This is old as 40,000 years than the era that is Cro-Magnon began living in Europe, has been further shown that the in Spain around the era would not have inhabited only Neanderthals is already in the prior study Therefore, it is claimed that this cave mural is due to the Neanderthal people.


Not only geometric patterns such as dots and lines, the murals targeted were not only geometric patterns such as dots and lines, but also hand shapes like the following Mart Lavis Esau cave wall paintings. "The artistic activity of symbolically drawing somethingNewcomerAlthough it is thought that only humanity afterwards is accepted, the possibility that other cave mural paintings are also due to the Neanderthal people also emerged, and the discussion "Can artists recognize art activities by Neanderthal?" The research team says it will put an end.