Aleesha Hansel
CAVE art and jewelry found in Spain is too old to have been made by modern humans.
Animals, hand stencils and shell jewelry were made by Neanderthals according to Science journal.
The art found in the UNESCO site of La Pasiega, Cantabria is said to span over 25,000 years and date back to 64,000 years ago.
“Our results show that the paintings we dated are, by far, the oldest known cave art in the world, and were created at least 20,000 years before modern humans arrived in Europe from Africa – therefore they must have been painted by Neanderthals,” said Chris Standish, an archaeologist at the University of Southampton.
“This is an incredibly exciting discovery which suggests Neanderthals were much more sophisticated than is popularly believed.”
The shell jewelry, found in Cueva de los Aviones, Cartagena, was dyed and pierced ready for adorning to other items or ‘stringing together’ is believed to date back 115,000 years.
