At what point in human history did our ancestors first become artistically active? A new analysis of red pigments in the Spanish cave Cueva de Ardales shows that these were apparently deliberately applied – around 65,000 years ago. These markings were made more than 20,000 years before the first anatomically modern humans came to Europe. The analysis suggests that the Neanderthals used the red color to mark a ritually significant site.
The Cueva de Ardales in the Spanish province of Malaga is home to numerous rock paintings from different millennia. The 1,600-meter-long cave was discovered in 1821 after an earthquake exposed its entrance. The first rock paintings were identified in 1918. Numerous figurative images of animals and various symbols are known. In the vicinity of the entrance to the cave, in a large stalagmite dome, there are also red pigments on the rocks, for which it was previously disputed whether they were deposited through natural processes or whether they were also human.
Paintings from the time of the Neanderthals
A team led by Africa Pitarch Martí from the University of Barcelona in Spain has now analyzed the composition of these pigments using various microscopic and spectroscopic methods and compared it with other minerals in the cave. “Our results contradict the assumption that the colorations could be the result of natural processes,” report the researchers. The arrangement and composition of the pigments make it clear that they cannot have been caused by seepage water deposits or natural weathering of the walls. The researchers were also able to rule out microbial activities.
Some of the samples have been dated to around 65,500 years ago. At that time there were no anatomically modern people in Europe. The colors on the rocks apparently come from Neanderthals who settled the region in the Paleolithic. According to the analyzes, the main components of the red color are the iron-containing mineral hematite, aluminum silicates and calcite. They also found quartz and diamond-like carbon layers in some of the microsamples they took. A comparison with other samples from the cave revealed: The color is very likely not from the cave itself. “Our results suggest that the Paleolithic artists used iron-rich lumps that were collected in geological formations from a source as yet unknown, which is likely can be found outside the cave, ”said the researchers.
No art in the strict sense
But were the pigments actually applied deliberately? In other cases it has already been argued that discoloration on rock walls could have arisen accidentally when early humans with dyed clothes or body paint grazed along narrow spaces. Martí and her colleagues can rule this out, however: “The painted structures are in the middle of a very large chamber,” they explain. In addition, the pigments are also found in deep crevices in the rock – even deeper than an arm could reach. According to the researchers, the paint was likely applied by blowing or spraying. This also fits the distribution pattern, in which the coloring is strongest in the middle and decreases towards the edges.
Nevertheless, the researchers do not classify the paint applications as art in the narrower sense. That would require the paintings to have a symbolic value in and of themselves. “We believe that the cave itself is the symbol and that the paintings are there to identify them as such, not the other way around,” write Martí and her colleagues. “So they are more the result of a graphic behavior that aims to perpetuate the symbolic meaning of a room.”
Symbolic place across generations
The dating of the pigments suggests that they were applied at different times – initially around 65,500 years ago and later again between 48,700 and 45,300 years ago. The composition of the pigments from the different times is also slightly different. “By combining both lines of evidence, dating and composition, we can be sure that our samples represent at least two malevents, and we can also assume that their actual number is likely to be at least three or maybe even four,” the researchers said.
They conclude that many generations of Neanderthals visited the cave and marked it again and again over thousands of years. Apparently they had a motivation to return to the cave repeatedly and to mark the place symbolically. “Our results support the hypothesis that the Neanderthals used these paintings and the large Stalagmite dome that houses them symbolically over a long period of time.”
Source: Africa Pitarch Martí (University of Barcelona, Spain) et al., Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.2021495118