Neanderthals Were Artists, And Cave Paintings Prove They’d Pick A Color Too
Photo ID 120912114 © Procyab | Dreamstime.com
Our ancestors, the Neanderthals, had their own artistic pursuits; this has been recorded in previous findings and the recent emergence of a deer bone.
However, new findings have dictated that the pigments used in these paintings weren’t just a natural occurrence, as previously believed, but intentionally used to create the art.
According to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the red ochre pigment discovered on the cavern stalagmites in Ardales, Spain, dated back 65,000 years. They were made by the Neanderthals at different times up to 15,000 and 20,000 years apart.
“The conspicuously different texture and composition of the geological samples indicates that the pigments used in the paintings do not come from the outcrops of colorant material known in the cave,” the study writes.
“We confirm that the paintings are not the result of natural processes and show that the composition of the paint is consistent with the artistic activity being recurrent.”
After the first discoveries were made, it was still considered possible that the pigments may have been naturally occurring in the cave as a result of oxide flow. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case, as the new research shows that the ochre had been spat by a Neanderthal onto the stalagmite, purportedly as part of a ritual.
The artwork consists of “distinctively splotchy handiwork,” as reported by the Smithsonian Magazine. Red splotches are what remain of the pigment, which was studied in Germany using uranium-thorium dating. It’s a technique that’s still pretty new to paleoanthropology, but it’s more accurate and less destructive, ideal for delicate samples such as these.
Apart from being a fascinating find, this research also serves to prove that the image we may have of the Neanderthals being a primitive, boorish species could be entirely wrong. Not only did they have bigger brains than us sapiens, but they also had a greater lung capacity, and walked upright. And now, it’s been confirmed that they made and enjoyed art, too.
It leaves room to wonder how they would feel about our NFT art today.
The new evidence of Neanderthal paintings is changing how we think of our humanityhttps://t.co/Gtqi1QGkXJ
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) August 4, 2021
[via Reuters, photo ID 120912114 © Procyab | Dreamstime.com]
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