New research confirms that it is Neanderthal art.
In 2018, researchers caused quite a stir by concluding that some petroglyphs found in Spanish caves were at least 64,000 years old. It meant that the petroglyphs couldn’t possibly have been created by modern humans, as they didn’t arrive in Europe until some 20,000 years later. “So the cave art must have been created by Neanderthals,” researcher Alistair Pike concluded in 2018.
startling
It was a startling conclusion. Because it meant that Neanderthals were also capable of making art and that they were cognitively much more similar to us than we thought.
But like any startling conclusion, this one was immediately questioned. After all, were the red and black pigments that the researchers labeled as Neanderthal art really the work of these hominids? Was the dating correct? And weren’t the petroglyphs – which in fact most resembled red and black spots – in reality the result of natural processes? A new study, published in the magazine PNAS, now wipes all those doubts off the table. After a thorough analysis of the rock paintings, the researchers can only draw one conclusion: the art is the work of Neanderthals.
Composition and placement
In the new study, the scientists first looked at the composition of the red pigments that were designated as Neanderthal art in 2018 in the Spanish cave Cueva de Ardales. They also looked at the placement of the pigments, which are mainly located on stalagmites.
Blow and splash
According to the researchers, both the composition of the pigments and their placement indicate that they are not the result of natural processes. Instead, the pigments appear to have been blown or splashed onto the stalagmites.
Pigments from outside the cave
The fact that the pigments are not the result of natural processes is further supported by the fact that they do not originate from the cave. Colorful materials have been found in the cave before, but their composition is different from that of the pigments applied to the stalagmites.
Neanderthals
It indicates that the artists deliberately brought the pigments to this cave. We will probably never find out who those artists were, but the researchers are sure that they must be counted among the Neanderthals. A new dating of rock art shows that some pigments were applied more than 65,500 years ago.
Repeatedly
The research also shows that Neanderthals repeatedly worked with pigments here. In addition to the pigments blown or splashed onto the stalagmites more than 65,500 years ago, the researchers also found pigments applied between 45,300 and 48,700 years ago. According to the researchers, it shows that the cave and drawings had symbolic value for the Neanderthals for a long time.
Confirmation
For example, the new study endorses the work from 2018. “We confirm that the drawings are not the result of natural processes and show that the composition of the pigments is in line with recurring artistic activities,” the researchers write in. PNAS. At the same time, however, they emphasize that it is not about art in the narrow sense, where one makes something beautiful to express certain feelings. Instead, the drawings seem primarily intended to indicate that this space had a symbolic value for the Neanderthals. So the drawings are actually a kind of markings.
Exactly how the Neanderthals perceived these marked places will likely remain unclear. But the researchers certainly expect to discover more. “We predict that in the future in the Iberian Peninsula, even more markers like those in Cueva de Ardales will be found.”
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