A recently conducted study of ancient hand outlines discovered within Spain’s Maltravieso Cave, situated in Cáceres, has unveiled new facets of Neanderthal creativity
indicating that these early hominids may have practiced art-making approximately 66,700 years ago. Such findings play a crucial role in reevaluating the intellectual and cultural capacity of Neanderthals, who were previously thought to be devoid of such abilities, a misconception challenged by the suggestion that they too, like Homo sapiens, could have been artists.
The debate regarding the Neanderthal origin of these cave depictions was sparked in 2018, which was met with skepticism due to the absence of solid evidence at that time
However, subsequent meticulous research employing uranium-thorium dating methods has verified the antiquity of the most ancient hand stencils, dating them to a period notably prior to the migration of modern humans into the European continent, which is estimated to have occurred around 42,000 years ago. Dr. Chris Standish, an archeologist from the University of Southampton, highlighted the implications of these findings, stating that the artworks are “the oldest known cave art in the world.”
Revolutionary advancements in the sphere of geological dating have illuminated the artistic contributions of Neanderthals
Unable to date the pigments composed of iron oxides like hematite using radiocarbon techniques, scientists turned to the overlying calcium carbonate formations for age determination. The application of this analysis reaffirmed the chronology of the artworks, which were initially revealed via UV photography techniques in the late 20th century. The site is host to seventy-one hand outlines, created by the method of applying pigment to the rock face around hands placed on the cave walls, leaving a negative image.
This reinterpretation of earlier evidence forces a reexamination of the cultural and mental sophistication of Neanderthals
challenging the previously uncontested belief that only Homo sapiens were capable of producing symbolic and artistic representations. “These findings show that both Neanderthals and modern humans had the capacity to produce such motifs,” the researchers commented, shattering enduring misconceptions about Neanderthal abilities.
The study, detailed within the Journal of Archaeological Science, further confirms through in-depth uranium-series analyses that the hand stencils in the cave indeed stem from Neanderthal activity
This milestone in appreciating Neanderthal culture challenges our previous understanding of human evolution and compels scholars to reconsider the genesis of artistic expression.