These six images of animals depicted in cave art come from an ice age dating up to 20,000 years ago, when hunter-gathering Homo sapiens created many vivid paintings such as the famous ones at Lascaux (15,000 BCE). This month in an article in the _Cambridge Archaeological Journal_ a team of researchers argue that they have successfully de-coded hitherto unknown meanings from these artworks.
As you can see from the circled bits on the sample photos, many of these cave paintings were accompanied by dots and lines. An amateur archaeologist named Ben Bacon led the way in figuring out that these markings had meanings: they were deliberate indications of the mating or birthing season of the animals. Furthermore, argue the authors of the paper, the imprints demonstrate that the artists were utilizing a lunar calendar.
This research takes us into the mindset of our hunter-gathering ancestors in a really new way. What mattered to these people (the life cycle and availability of the animals they relied on for food) is clearer because of it, and their proficiency with calendar record-keeping is made obvious. Predating the system of writing that came out of the Sumerian civilization 3,400 BCE by over 10,000 years, these dots and lines adorning Ice Age cave art are the first bits of evidence for symbolic record keeping that we know of.
Sources: Phys.org “Cave markings show that Ice Age hunter-gatherers were the first to use a lunar calendar” Bob Yirka, Jan 5, 2023. The guardian.com, “Amateur archaeologist uncovers ice age ‘writing’ system” Hannah Devlin, Jan 5, 2023
