A series of lines scratched into rock in a cave in Europe could be proof that a type of early human called Neanderthals were more intelligent and creative than previously thought.
The X-shaped engravings inside Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar are the first known examples of Neanderthal rock art, according to a team of scientists. The find is important because it shows that modern humans and their extinct cousins shared the capacity for creative expression.
“We will never know the meaning the design held for the maker or the Neanderthals who inhabited the cave, but the fact that they were marking their territory in this way before modern humans arrived in the region has huge implications for debates about what it is to be human and the origin of art,” said Paul Tacon, an expert in rock art at Australia’s Griffith University.
Not all archaeologists are convinced that Neanderthals made the carvings. A recent study reported that Neanderthals and modern humans overlapped by several thousand years.
“Any discovery that helps improve the public image of Neanderthals is welcome,” said Clive Gamble, an archaeologist at the University of Southampton in England. “We know they spoke, lived in large social groups, looked after the sick, buried their dead and were highly successful in the ice-age environments of northern latitudes. As a result ,rock engraving should be entirely within their grasp.”
“What is critical, however, is the dating,” Gamble said. “While I want Neanderthals to be painting, carving and engraving, I’m reserving judgment.”
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