Art of the Middle Paleolithic

Acheulean hand-axes from Kent. The types shown are (clockwise from top) cordate, ficron and ovate. Arguably a form of early art.

The oldest undisputed examples of figurative art are known from Europe and from Sulawesi, Indonesia, and are dated as far back as around 50,000 years ago (Art of the Upper Paleolithic).^[1] Together with religion and other cultural universals of contemporary human societies, the emergence of figurative art is a necessary attribute of full behavioral modernity.

There are, however, some examples of non-figurative designs which somewhat predate the Upper Paleolithic, beginning about 70,000 years ago (MIS 4). These include the earliest of the Iberian cave paintings, including a hand stencil at the Cave of Maltravieso, a simple linear design, and red paint applied to speleothems, dated to at least 64,000 years ago and as such attributable to Neanderthals.^[2] The markings on the walls of a cave in La Roche-Cotard in the Loire valley have been identified as the oldest known Neanderthal engravings and have been dated to more than 57,000 years ago.^[3]^[4] Similarly, the Blombos Cave of South Africa yielded some stones with engraved grid or cross-hatch patterns, dated to some 73,000 years ago, but they are attributed to Homo sapiens.^[5]

^ M. Aubert et al., "Pleistocene cave art from Sulawesi, Indonesia", Nature volume 514, pages 223–227 (09 October 2014). "using uranium-series dating of coralloid speleothems directly associated with 12 human hand stencils and two figurative animal depictions from seven cave sites in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, we show that rock art traditions on this Indonesian island are at least compatible in age with the oldest European art. The earliest dated image from Maros, with a minimum age of 39.9 kyr, is now the oldest known hand stencil in the world. In addition, a painting of a babirusa ('pig-deer') made at least 35.4 kyr ago is among the earliest dated figurative depictions worldwide, if not the earliest one. Among the implications, it can now be demonstrated that humans were producing rock art by ~40 kyr ago at opposite ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world."
^ D. L. Hoffmann; C. D. Standish; M. García-Diez; P. B. Pettitt; J. A. Milton; J. Zilhão; J. J. Alcolea-González; P. Cantalejo-Duarte; H. Collado; R. de Balbín; M. Lorblanchet; J. Ramos-Muñoz; G.-Ch. Weniger; A. W. G. Pike (2018). "U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art". Science. 359 (6378): 912–915. Bibcode:2018Sci...359..912H. doi:10.1126/science.aap7778. hdl:10498/21578. PMID 29472483. "we present dating results for three sites in Spain that show that cave art emerged in Iberia substantially earlier than previously thought. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates on carbonate crusts overlying paintings provide minimum ages for a red linear motif in La Pasiega (Cantabria), a hand stencil in Maltravieso (Extremadura), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales (Andalucía). Collectively, these results show that cave art in Iberia is older than 64.8 thousand years (ka). This cave art is the earliest dated so far and predates, by at least 20 ka, the arrival of modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal authorship."
^ Sample, Ian (21 June 2023). "French cave markings said to be oldest known engravings by Neanderthals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
^ Marquet, Jean-Claude; Freiesleben, Trine Holm; Thomsen, Kristina Jørkov; Murray, Andrew Sean; Calligaro, Morgane; Macaire, Jean-Jacques; Robert, Eric; Lorblanchet, Michel; Aubry, Thierry; Bayle, Grégory; Bréhéret, Jean-Gabriel; Camus, Hubert; Chareille, Pascal; Egels, Yves; Guillaud, Émilie (2023-06-21). "The earliest unambiguous Neanderthal engravings on cave walls: La Roche-Cotard, Loire Valley, France". PLOS ONE. 18 (6): e0286568. Bibcode:2023PLoSO..1886568M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0286568. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 10284424. PMID 37343032.
^ Henshilwood, C.S.; et al. (2018). "An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa" (PDF). Nature. 562 (7725): 115–118. Bibcode:2018Natur.562..115H. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0514-3. PMID 30209394. S2CID 52197496.

[Aubert2014-1] M. Aubert et al., "Pleistocene cave art from Sulawesi, Indonesia", Nature volume 514, pages 223–227 (09 October 2014). "using uranium-series dating of coralloid speleothems directly associated with 12 human hand stencils and two figurative animal depictions from seven cave sites in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, we show that rock art traditions on this Indonesian island are at least compatible in age with the oldest European art. The earliest dated image from Maros, with a minimum age of 39.9 kyr, is now the oldest known hand stencil in the world. In addition, a painting of a babirusa ('pig-deer') made at least 35.4 kyr ago is among the earliest dated figurative depictions worldwide, if not the earliest one. Among the implications, it can now be demonstrated that humans were producing rock art by ~40 kyr ago at opposite ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world."

[Hoffmann2018-2] D. L. Hoffmann; C. D. Standish; M. García-Diez; P. B. Pettitt; J. A. Milton; J. Zilhão; J. J. Alcolea-González; P. Cantalejo-Duarte; H. Collado; R. de Balbín; M. Lorblanchet; J. Ramos-Muñoz; G.-Ch. Weniger; A. W. G. Pike (2018). "U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art". Science. 359 (6378): 912–915. Bibcode:2018Sci...359..912H. doi:10.1126/science.aap7778. hdl:10498/21578. PMID 29472483. "we present dating results for three sites in Spain that show that cave art emerged in Iberia substantially earlier than previously thought. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates on carbonate crusts overlying paintings provide minimum ages for a red linear motif in La Pasiega (Cantabria), a hand stencil in Maltravieso (Extremadura), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales (Andalucía). Collectively, these results show that cave art in Iberia is older than 64.8 thousand years (ka). This cave art is the earliest dated so far and predates, by at least 20 ka, the arrival of modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal authorship."

[3] Sample, Ian (21 June 2023). "French cave markings said to be oldest known engravings by Neanderthals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.

[4] Marquet, Jean-Claude; Freiesleben, Trine Holm; Thomsen, Kristina Jørkov; Murray, Andrew Sean; Calligaro, Morgane; Macaire, Jean-Jacques; Robert, Eric; Lorblanchet, Michel; Aubry, Thierry; Bayle, Grégory; Bréhéret, Jean-Gabriel; Camus, Hubert; Chareille, Pascal; Egels, Yves; Guillaud, Émilie (2023-06-21). "The earliest unambiguous Neanderthal engravings on cave walls: La Roche-Cotard, Loire Valley, France". PLOS ONE. 18 (6): e0286568. Bibcode:2023PLoSO..1886568M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0286568. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 10284424. PMID 37343032.

[Henshilwood-5] Henshilwood, C.S.; et al. (2018). "An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa" (PDF). Nature. 562 (7725): 115–118. Bibcode:2018Natur.562..115H. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0514-3. PMID 30209394. S2CID 52197496.

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