At roughly 43,000 years old, the dot may be the oldest human fingerprint on record and also one of the earliest symbolic objects ever found in Europe.
The fingerprint, made with the red mineral ocher, was left by a Neanderthal — the closest extinct relative of modern humans.
The researchers behind a new study argue that the red dot represents a nose on a rock with face-like features.
The discovery is a further challenge to the idea that Neanderthals were generally not capable of symbolic art.
But the deliberate addition of a red dot for a “nose” beneath the “eyebrows” of the rocky Mr.
It’s possible that a red . on a face-shaped rock in Spain is breaking several records. The . is thought to be 43,000 years old, making it possibly the oldest known human fingerprint and one of the first symbolic items discovered in Europe.
An individual who was Neanderthal, the closest extinct relative of modern humans, left a fingerprint made with the red mineral ocher. Neanderthals lived in Europe for hundreds of thousands of years before early modern humans arrived, but they went extinct about 40,000 years ago.
According to a recent study’s researchers, the red . is a rock’s nose with facial-like features. The finding casts doubt on the notion that Neanderthals were typically incapable of creating symbolic art.
Live Science was informed by some experts, however, that they do not believe the . is symbolic.
Bruce Hardy, an archaeologist and anthropologist at Kenyon College in Ohio who was not involved in the discovery, stated that while the red . was undoubtedly intentional, there was little other certainty.
“Clearly, the fingerprint has been used to intentionally apply the ocher,” Hardy said to Live Science. However, I failed to notice a face—the interpretation of symbolism is subjective. “..”.
Related: According to a study, a bear bone carved by a Neanderthal 130,000 years ago is symbolic art.
The study details the 2022 discovery at the San Lázaro rock shelter on the outskirts of Segovia in central Spain and was published on May 5 in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
Despite the lack of evidence that early modern humans ever inhabited the area, scientists have evidence that Neanderthals lived there in large numbers between 44,000 and 41,000 years ago.
An old face?
Approximately 6 inches (15 centimeters) long, the rock has indentations near one end that resemble vague eyebrows. It looks like a large potato.
The authors contend, however, that the purposeful placement of a red . for a “nose” beneath the rocky Mr. Potato Head’s “eyebrows” turns the big pebble into a crude representation of a human face.
According to a translated statement from Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC), “This discovery is the most comprehensive and ancient proof of a human fingerprint in the world, unquestionably ascribed to Neanderthals, emphasizing the intentional use of the pigment for symbolic purposes.”.
Although the red . appears to be uniformly distributed, forensic tests and an analysis of its reflection of various light wavelengths showed that it was actually made by a fingerprint with a characteristic whorl pattern, most likely belonging to an adult male Neanderthal.
Presumably from a nearby river where it formed, the granite pebble appears to have been purposefully transported to the rock shelter. According to the study’s findings, “the fact that the pebble was chosen based on its appearance and then marked with ocher shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing, and projecting his or her thoughts on an object.”.
Art from the Stone Age.
Archaeologists have been debating whether or not Neanderthals created abstract art for decades. Even the best Neanderthal artwork pales in comparison to the cave paintings created by early modern humans at locations like the Chauvet Cave in France and the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, where engravings on cave walls may date back up to 75,000 years.
Paleolithic archaeologist Rebecca Wragg Sykes of the Universities of Cambridge and Liverpool the U.K. The K. The author of “Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art” (Bloomsbury Sigma, 2020) believes that even though the red . is symbolic, the authors of the study might have misinterpreted it.
In an email to Live Science, she stated, “What the team infers to be a representation of a nose on a face might, if turned the other way up, be seen as a navel on a human figure.”. “It is really impossible to predict what it will be. “”.
Paul Pettitt, an archaeologist at Durham University who was not on the team that made the discovery, described the rock as an “unequivocal example of the Neanderthal use of red pigment” that demonstrated how Neanderthals were regularly leaving marks on portable objects and cave walls. However, he said it was still unclear if the red . actually represented anything.
Derek Hodgson, a psychologist and archaeologist who specializes in prehistoric cave art and was not involved in the study, told Live Science that the rock appeared to have served no other function. In an email, he added that the rock only resembled a face after the “nose” mark was added.
“The collection of Neanderthal objects that are non-functional in nature is expanding with this discovery. “.
