Lost art of the Stone Age: The cave paintings redrawing human history

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Newly discovered cave creation gives caller penetration into the minds of our ancestors - and upends the thought that a Stone Age taste detonation was unsocial to Europe

Humans 28 July 2021

By Alison George

IN 1879, an 8-year-old miss made a find that would stone our knowing of quality history. On the walls of Altamira cave successful bluish Spain, she spotted stunning drawings of bison, painted successful vivid reddish and black. More striking adjacent than the images was their age: they were made thousands of years agone by modern humans’ supposedly primitive ancestors. Today, astir 400 caves crossed Europe person been recovered decorated with manus stencils, mysterious symbols and beauteous images of animals created by these accomplished artists.

The discoveries led to the presumption that creator endowment arose aft modern humans arrived successful the portion immoderate 40,000 years ago, arsenic portion of a “cultural explosion” reflecting a flowering of the quality mind. But much caller grounds has blown this thought retired of the water. For a start, modern humans mightiness not person been the archetypal artists successful Europe, arsenic paintings discovered successful a Spanish cave successful 2018 person revealed. What’s more, a treasure trove of cave paintings emerging successful Indonesia has dispelled the thought that Europe was the epicentre of creativity. Indeed, discoveries successful Africa bespeak that humans were honing their creator skills agelong earlier groups of them migrated to the remainder of the world.

The existent puzzle is wherefore Stone Age cave creation seems to beryllium concentrated successful a fewer locations. Could it beryllium hiding elsewhere successful plain sight, unnoticed, unrecognised oregon obscured? Efforts are present nether mode to way down this missing art, with increasing success. …

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