The international group of scientists has proven that drawings on stalagmites in the Spanish cave were made by Neanderthals 60 thousand years ago. The study, the results of which were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is another proof that the extinct view of people was more developed than previously thought.
For the first time, the following traces indicating the existence of the Neanderthals of primitive visual arts were discovered in 2018, when some experts tied the pigment in the Red Okra in Stalagmites in the Spanish cave of Cueva de Ardales with the activities of extinct “relatives” anatomically modern person. The dating showed the age of ocher at 64,800, when Homo Sapiens has not yet dwell on the continent. However, there was a chance that the pigment had a natural origin and postponed due to the stream of iron oxide.
The new analysis showed that the pigments were applied to stalagmites by splashing and blowing. In addition, the Texture of the Oshot did not correspond to the samples of natural origin from other caves, which made it possible to assume the external source of ocher in Cueva de Ardales. According to the results of a more detailed dating, the pigments were applied at different points in time that were divided more than ten thousand years.
Although the “art” of Neanderthals can not be compared with the rock painting of prehistoric Homo Sapiens age more than 30,000 years old, the discovery indicates that the extinct type of people was also capable of abstract thinking and symbolism, although the meaning of staining stalagmites remains a mystery.