Often when we hear of cave paintings, they're quoted at about thirty thousand years back and it was a passion for my ol' Dad to see the ones at Altamira while it was still possible. Those paintings are among the most famous but they're not accessible to tourists any longer due to risk of damage from humidity, etc. (WIKI: Cave of Altamira)
There's a note in that WIKI which is germane to the latest paper about such paintings.
A later study published in 2012 based on data obtained from further uranium-thorium dating research, dated some paintings in several caves in North Spain, including some of the claviform signs in the "Gran sala" of Altamira, and concluded that the first works in Altamira belonged to the Aurignacian culture, 35,600 years old, right at the beginning of human occupation of North Spain by modern humans. This means that these drawings could have been made by Neanderthal authors instead of homo sapiens, as assumed until now.
- WIKI
An international team of anthropologists has uncovered a 38,000-year-old engraved image in a southwestern French rockshelter -- a finding that marks some of the earliest known graphic imagery found in Western Eurasia and offers insights into the nature of modern humans during this period.
- Science Daily: Anthropologists uncover art by (really) old masters
While the authors of the latest paper stood fast to the idea of 'modern man,' thirty-eight thousand years ago was on the cusp of the turnover from Neanderthal domination of Europe to that of Cro-Magnon (i.e. Modern Man). This is some supremely fine hair-splitting but 'modern man' in lower case does not necessarily mean Cro-Magnon whereas capitals means specifically Homo sapiens.
Ed: it could go either way?
It does seem so.
The article summary looks relatively shallow, actually.
"Following their arrival from Africa, groups of modern humans settled into western and Central Europe, showing a broad commonality in graphic expression against which more regionalized characteristics stand out," he explains. "This pattern fits well with social geography models that see art and personal ornamentation as markers of social identity at regional, group, and individual levels."
- SD
That statement leaves out altogether that Neanderthals were already in Europe at that time and researchers have previously found evidence of aesthetic appreciation in that species. The paper didn't give a clear basis for why the thinking Cro-Mags made the paintings rather than Neanderthals.
As always, the links are there and make it what you will.
There's a note in that WIKI which is germane to the latest paper about such paintings.
A later study published in 2012 based on data obtained from further uranium-thorium dating research, dated some paintings in several caves in North Spain, including some of the claviform signs in the "Gran sala" of Altamira, and concluded that the first works in Altamira belonged to the Aurignacian culture, 35,600 years old, right at the beginning of human occupation of North Spain by modern humans. This means that these drawings could have been made by Neanderthal authors instead of homo sapiens, as assumed until now.
- WIKI
An international team of anthropologists has uncovered a 38,000-year-old engraved image in a southwestern French rockshelter -- a finding that marks some of the earliest known graphic imagery found in Western Eurasia and offers insights into the nature of modern humans during this period.
- Science Daily: Anthropologists uncover art by (really) old masters
While the authors of the latest paper stood fast to the idea of 'modern man,' thirty-eight thousand years ago was on the cusp of the turnover from Neanderthal domination of Europe to that of Cro-Magnon (i.e. Modern Man). This is some supremely fine hair-splitting but 'modern man' in lower case does not necessarily mean Cro-Magnon whereas capitals means specifically Homo sapiens.
Ed: it could go either way?
It does seem so.
The article summary looks relatively shallow, actually.
"Following their arrival from Africa, groups of modern humans settled into western and Central Europe, showing a broad commonality in graphic expression against which more regionalized characteristics stand out," he explains. "This pattern fits well with social geography models that see art and personal ornamentation as markers of social identity at regional, group, and individual levels."
- SD
That statement leaves out altogether that Neanderthals were already in Europe at that time and researchers have previously found evidence of aesthetic appreciation in that species. The paper didn't give a clear basis for why the thinking Cro-Mags made the paintings rather than Neanderthals.
As always, the links are there and make it what you will.
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