The world's oldest cave engraving created by Neanderthals 57 thousand years ago found in France (video)
In France, an international team of researchers found engravings created by Neanderthals about 60,000 years ago on the wall of the La Roche Cotard cave.
As reported in the publication of the scientists in the journal PlOS ONE, the "anthropogenic origin of the spatially structured non-figurative signs" found in the cave was confirmed using taphonomic, trace evidence and experimental data.
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Archaeologists say that these signs are actually fingerprints that Neanderthals made on the cave wall. However, their symbolic meaning remains unclear. The prints differ in the nature of their application and appearance from random traces left on the cave walls by people or animals.
Раніше ознаки символічної діяльності у неандертальців знаходили в основному на кістках, кам'яних знаряддях, зубах і пір'ї, зазначили вчені.
Вчені додали, що "гравюри" в La Roche Coterie можна вважати найдавнішими прикладами такого роду, тоді як усі кам'яні знаряддя з печери є типово неандертальськими.
As a reminder, archaeologists in Peru found a 3,000-year-old mummy under a pile of rubbish. The researchers had to remove 7,000 kilograms of garbage to conduct detailed excavations.
The archaeologist said that during his lifetime, this person could have been sacrificed during the last stage of temple construction.
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