Homo sapiens has long looked down on Neanderthals as the less sophisticated side of the family, but in the latest evidence to the contrary, a team of scientists claim to have identified the earliest intentional – not utilitarian – marks made by Neanderthals, found in the cave of La Roche-Cotard in central France.
Jean-Claude Marquet of the University of Tours in France led the research, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE end of June. While historians have known about the carvings since the 1970s, Marquet and his team are the first to claim that the 57,000-year-old markings are “unambiguous examples of abstract Neanderthal design.”
La Roche-Cotard cave offers scientists a unique opportunity for Neanderthal research. It was sealed with sediment 51,000 years ago, 6,000 years before Homo sapiens arrived in Western Europe. The cave was reopened by quarry workers in 1846. Neanderthals are therefore the only possible inhabitants of the cave (besides lions, bears and hyenas, according to a recent study).
The team used photogrammetry to create three-dimensional models of eight sections of the cave walls, where our humanoid relatives had raked the clay surface with their fingers.
In a panel near the cave entrance, a Neanderthal designer carved two sides of a triangle into the lower parts of the soft clay surface, creating a raised form. The lowest point of the triangle overlaps a natural rock. Not only did Marquet and his team claim that the designer considered the shape of the wall in crafting their work, but they slowed down their fingers as they approached the apex of the triangle, creating a decisive end to the line. (Scientists discovered this by looking at the depth of the marks.)
“These drawings were applied, are structured and were not done quickly or without prior thought,” Marquet said in a statement, quoted by the Guardian.
Other sections such as the “Circular” and “Wavy” panels seem to have a unity between sets of fingerprints. In the engraving on the left, the artist seems to have deliberately designed an oval shape. In the drawing on the right, the Neanderthal man created a wave-like central axis with smaller markings surrounding it.
As new research proves the artistic intentionality of Neanderthals, Marquet said Hyperallergic that it is impossible to decipher the meaning of the drawings. Still, the scientist hopes the new discovery will encourage other researchers to go back and look at similar marks.
“The most exciting thing about this discovery, which took place 40 years ago, is that the demonstration of its importance only comes after this long period of questioning,” said Marquet, “Chercher des solutions pour dater, study the environment and be patient, very patient.”
The discovery is just the latest nugget of good press for Neanderthals. Among a number of other findings, researchers confirmed that Neanderthals created splatter paintings, cave architectureand eagle claw jewelryand that they intentionally buried their dead.
