Free Republic

Neanderthals, long perceived to have been unsophisticated and brutish, really did paint stalagmites in a Spanish cave more than 60,000 years ago, according to a study published on Monday.The issue had roiled the paleoarchaeology community ever since the publication of a 2018 paper attributing red ocher pigment found on the stalagmitic dome of Cueva de Ardales to our extinct "cousin" species.The dating suggested the art was at least 64,800 years old, made at a time when modern humans did not inhabit the continent...A new analysis revealed the composition and placement of the pigments were not consistent with natural processes—instead, the...

Cueva de Ardales is a hugely important Paleolithic site in Malaga, Spain, owing to its rich inventory of rock art. According to new research, Neanderthals entered this cave in the Middle Paleolithic, over 65,000 years ago and left traces of symbolic practices on the cave walls; thereafter the cave was repeatedly visited by Homo sapiens all the way to the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic period.Cueva de Ardales is the most outstanding cave with Paleolithic rock art in southern Iberia.The cave is located near the village of Ardales, in a mountain know as Cerro de la Calinoria, at 565 m above sea level...