Were the Neanderthals the Very First Creators of Abstract Cave Art?
Mar 14, 2018
A recent report in the journal Science has scientists buzzing about the origins of human culture. The report, which was published on 23 February and was co-authored by 14 scientists representing five nations, states definitively that the prehistoric cave art in Spain, which is the oldest dated cave art in the world, could not have been made by the hands previously thought to have created it. Prior carbon dating of the cave art estimated its age to be around 30,000 years old. It was therefore assumed that the art was made by members ofHomo sapiens, the closest ancestors of modern humans, who are thought to have migrated to Europe from Africa about 45,000 years ago. The authors of this new study used a more sophisticated dating technique known as Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dating. They analyzed the calcite residues that have built up over the top of the ancient cave art over time as water has seeped into the caves. The water contains a small amount of uranium atoms, which decay at a predictable rate into an identifiable thorium isotope. By analyzing those thorium isotopes, we can calculate the rate of decay and determine how old the pigment is. Using this technique, the scientists determined that the cave paintings are at least 64,800 years old. That means the cave art was made at least 20,000 years before Homo sapiensis thought to have arrived in neighborhood. Ergo, the authors of the study came to the conclusion that the artwork may have been made by Neandertals. Poor Neandertals have long been dismissed as the shorter, stockier, more slow-witted cousins of Homo sapiens. It is assumed they could not possibly have been capable of cultural activities such as cave painting, but this report seemingly shatters that assumption. Nonetheless, as much fun as it is to see underdog Neandertals receive their moment in the sun, I wonder whether we are jumping too quickly to conclusions. What caught my attention is the notation that the cave art is “at least” 64,800 years old. Evidently, there are additional layers of pigment beneath the ones tested in this study, which means the cave art could be much, much older—and that could mean a discovery in waiting that could really shatter some assumptions.
Who Invented Art?
It is kind of a handy explanation to say that the first cave art was made by Homo sapiens. As the member of Genus Homo from which anyone reading this article likely descended, this species has something of a special reputation amongst the animal kingdom. Its neurological prowess and natural athletic ability set it apart from Homo neandertalensis. Such attributes are what helped our ancestors wipe that other species off the map, so we could claim the planet for ourselves. Art is supposedly the ultimate expression of our inherent superiority. It is the outward manifestation of the ability to communicate symbolically. It is the beginning of every future cultural accomplishment claimed by modern human civilization.
If, however, the cave art in Spain is much older than this most recent study indicates, we may have to seriously rethink our view of ourselves. Say, for example, the under-layers of pigment turn out to be half a million years old. That would mean they could not have been made by Neandertals, but in fact may have been made by Homo heidelbergensis, the first species of the genus Homo to bury their dead. Or what if the true age of the cave art is 1 million years old. That would mean it predates Homo heidelbergensis, and therefore could have been made by Homo antecessor. And why not? Homo antecessor used fire to cook their food. If they invented the culinary arts, why not the pictorial arts, too? Or what if we discover the true age of the pigment in Spanish cave art is actually 1.5 million years old? That would mean Homo erectus, the first upright ancestral humans to leave Africa for Eurasia, might have made it.
The ladder-shaped painting on the left in the La Pasiega cave in Spain is older than 64,000 years, scientists have found, and was made by Neanderthals. Credit P. Saura
Enter the Apes
The most exciting possibility is that the cave art might not have been made by members of genus Homo at all. The only obvious signal that the art was made by our ancestors is that interspersed among the abstract linear patterns and painted stalagmites are painted outlines of human-looking hands. But humans are not the only species with five-fingered hands. If U-Th dating of the oldest layers of calcite in the cave art pigments reveals that Spanish cave art is older than 1.9 million years old, that would mean that genus Homo was likely not responsible for it at all. Credit would then fall to the descendants of Oreopithecus, a species of ape that thrived in Europe as much as 7 million years ago. Fossil evidence shows Oreopithecushad hands with five fingers. Could these lifeforms not have traced those fingers on walls along with scrawled linear patterns, or covered rocks with pigment?
Personally, I would love it if scientists determined that the first cave art was created by apes. Such a discovery would take nothing away from us. We would still easily be able to trace our genetic heritage back to the first artists. The only thing that would change is that we would be forced to redefine the idea of animal nature. So often we speak as though our animal nature is our lowest nature. We point to cultural developments like the ability to create advanced symbolic languages such as those found in contemporary abstract art as evidence of a so-called higher nature. Learning that long before we evolved into something that wore clothes, cooked, walked upright or spoke, we were drawing grids, making self-portraits, and painting sculptural forms would force us to accept that perhaps what is animal within us is in fact the most impressive aspect of who we are.
Featured image: Cueva de los Aviones, photo via wikimedia.com
All images used for illustrative purposes only
By Phillip Barcio
