More than 57,000 years old may have traces recently discovered on the cave wall of La Roche Cotardin the Loire Valley, in France, and attributed to Neanderthals. Together with the cave engravings found a few years ago in caves in Malaga, Cantabria and Cáceres (over 64,000 years old), those in the French cave represent some of the oldest known paintings made by these hominids that, in Europe, came to coexist anatomically with humans. modern.
A scientific team led by professors from the University of Tours (France) published the study this week in the journal Plos Onewhere they indicate that, thanks to stratigraphy, one can even speculate with human traces of more than 70,000 years.
With this article, the question of the cultural complexity of Neanderthals returns to the center of the debate, although, according to the specialists themselves, relatively little is known about their symbolic or artistic expression. Because, although evidence of some of its symbolic productions has been found, its interpretations contain numerous enigmas.
Hence the relevance of this work, in which Jean Claude Marquet and colleagues from France, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary and Switzerland identified non-figurative marks within the cave that they were able to interpret as records of human fingers that they drew “deliberate, organized and purposeful forms”.
There are probably other Neanderthal footprints in caves known for their Upper Paleolithic works and we may not yet know how to attribute them to Neanderthals.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers performed a layout analysis, using the photogrammetry to create 3D models of these marks and be able to compare them with other known humans. From the shape, spacing and arrangement of the engravings, the team verified that they were creations made by the human hand.
Art, chance or symbol?
Among the reasons why so little is known about Neanderthal artistic expression, Marquet points out that “today there are very few parietal rests known or at least well attributed: La Roche-Cotard and perhaps the three spanish caves, of which there are doubts as to its dating”, in his own words. In archeology, this type of lines that are limited to the walls of caves is called ‘parietal art’, since neither the floor nor the ceiling is made.
Above all, there are “recognizable traits of their representations in Objects found at Neanderthal sites”, explains the French researcher to SINC. Although he concedes that “there are probably other Neanderthal footprints in caves known for their Upper Paleolithic works, and we may not know how to attribute them to Neanderthals because we would need a way to date them”. He cites, for example, the cave of pech merlein the French department of Lot, “where there are very long fingerprint traces that have been called spaghetti and that they appear to have a slightly different color than Upper Paleolithic traits, but how can you prove that this difference in color corresponds to an age difference?
As for the symbolic expression of these extinct humans who inhabited Europe, the Near East and Central Asia between 400,000 and 40,000 years ago, “it is even more difficult (to decipher) because the drawings are not figurative”, according to the main author, “And even if they were , for some prehistoric, Upper Paleolithic drawings a meaning that we’ll never know, like he said michel lorblanchet”.
The first step is dating
To better understand the context of these representations found in the Loire Valley, the team dated cave floors using optically stimulated luminescence. Thus, they were able to determine that the cave had stayed closed by fill sediments about 57,000 years ago, very before him homo sapiens settled in the region.
This discovery, together with the fact that the stone tools inside the cave were only Mousterian (the name of a Middle Paleolithic technology associated with Neanderthals) constitute strong evidence that these engravings are the work of Neanderthals.
Neanderthals not only drew lines and curves or worked on bird bones, but their consciousness also allowed them to leave intentional footprints, following a precise design.
In no case is it clear what intention they painted, although these signs of their presence speak of behaviors and activities as complex and diverse as those of our direct ancestors.
What do these engravings tell us about differences in representation and techniques used between Neanderthals and Sapiens? Marquet replies: “According michel lorblanchet and other specialists, the engravings of the Upper Paleolithic they are figurative but very difficult to interpret. The interesting thing about these discoveries in the Loire Valley is that we now have to accept that Neanderthals not only traced lines and curves, and not only worked on bird bones, but their consciousness also allowed them to leave applied, constructed and intentional traces, following a Precise and thoughtful design”.
Each of these investigations offers the possibility of advancing in the use of new scientific techniques that bring us closer to the vestiges of our ancestors. Questioned about the subject, the professor from the University of Tours indicates that, in this case, “the photogrammetry played a very important role”, since from the diagram cross sections can be made that facilitate the measurement “of the sections of the lines”.
The call RTI photography (Reflectance Transform Image) “allows us to study the relief of these lines, and the digital microscopy, have large enlargements on the walls of the cave”. With a complete cavity scan, measurements can be taken and “the technology to lead (Light detection and range) from the outside gives us a good view of the terrain. Together, “all these techniques allow us to ‘read’ cave surfaces and thus decipher them better and try to understand them”, he concludes.
Reference:
Marquete JC, and others. “The first unambiguous Neanderthal engravings on cave walls: La Roche-Cotard, Loire Valley, France”. PLOS ONE(2023)