U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art

Hoffmann, D.L.; Standish, C.D.; García-Diez, M.; Pettitt, P.B.; Milton, J.A.; Zilhão, J.; Alcolea-González, J.J.; Cantalejo-Duarte, P.; Collado, H.; de Balbín, R.; Lorblanchet, M.; Ramos-Muñoz, J.; Weniger, G.-Ch; Pike, A.W.G.

Abstract

he extent and nature of symbolic behavior among Neandertals are obscure. Although evidence for Neandertal body ornamentation has been proposed, all cave painting has been attributed to modern humans. Here 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.

Citation

Hoffmann, D., Standish, C., García-Diez, M., Pettitt, P., Milton, J., Zilhão, J., …Pike, A. (2018). U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art. Science, 359(6378), 912-915. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap7778

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 1, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Feb 23, 2018
• Publication Date: Feb 23, 2018
• Deposit Date: Mar 2, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 2, 2018
• Journal: Science
• Print ISSN: 0036-8075
• Electronic ISSN: 1095-9203
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 359
• Issue: 6378
• Pages: 912-915
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap7778
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1338194