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Neanderthals—not modern humans—made the oldest cave paintings
// Gurney Journey
Some of the oldest cave paintings are in Spain, and they have been dated to 64,800 years ago, when the European subcontinent was inhabited exclusively by Neanderthals. This means that Neanderthals, and not just modern humans, were capable of the abstracted thought necessary for making meaningful marks.
Those marks are reconstructed above. To the right is a complicated shape with branching forms. In the upper left, rows of small dots curve above a ladder-like shape. Are the dots counting or recording some number? Does the ladder-like shape suggest structures, boundaries, enclosures, or categories? No one knows. What those marks might mean is impossible to say.
Animal outlines appear inside the rectangles, but it's possible they were painted after the the rest of the shapes.
Read more at NatGeo: World's Oldest Cave Art Found—And Neanderthals Made It or at the Guardian: Neanderthals – not modern humans – were first artists on Earth, experts claim
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