Through a simple gesture, a Neanderthal potentially created artwork.
** broke ground as Spanish researchers claim to have discovered evidence suggesting that Neanderthals** may have been capable of creating art, challenging the long-held belief that art originated exclusively with the modern humans who succeeded them.
The stone in question, a quartz-rich granite pebble about 8 inches long, was excavated from the San Lázaro rock shelter in central Spain in 2022. It was found within a layer dating back 42,000 to 43,000 years. The pebble's unique shape, featuring indentations that resemble a human face, drew immediate attention from the researchers.
In the pebble's center is a single red dot, which serves as a nose-like feature. A study published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences by the researchers revealed that the dot was made of ocher, a natural earth pigment, and that it seemed to be a nonutilitarian object rather than a tool.
"From the outset, we could tell it was peculiar," said David Álvarez-Alonso, the study's lead author and an archaeologist at Complutense University in Madrid.
Further analysis proved that the red dot was a fingerprint left intentionally by a Neanderthal, likely an adult male, who dipped a finger in ocher before touching the stone.
Researchers argue that the Neanderthal probably perceived the pebble as resembling a face due to the psychological phenomenon known as pareidolia, and was subsequently inspired to complete the depiction, creating one of the oldest known abstractions of a human face in the prehistoric record.
"It would be a clear act of symbolization - apparently very simple, yet meaningful," said Álvarez-Alonso.
The discovery is "doubly exceptional" since it's the "most complete" Neanderthal fingerprint identified to date, apart from a partial one previously found in Germany.
Neanderthals were a distinct species that went extinct around 40,000 years ago. They coexisted with early modern humans in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East for at least part of their existence. Characterized by a large nose and relatively short and stocky bodies, Neanderthals were closely related to humans.
The remains of Neanderthals do not show clear evidence of lower intelligence than modern humans, some scientists have argued. The pebble serves as one of a growing number of discoveries suggestive of symbolic behavior among Neanderthals, but it's not considered to be directly comparable to the complex visual symbolic system developed by Homo sapiens.
"We should not try to draw direct analogies between the Neanderthal and sapiens worlds," Álvarez-Alonso said, emphasizing that Neanderthals did not create a system as diverse and intricate as the one developed by Homo sapiens. "This pebble doesn't solve the mystery, but it offers one more clue suggesting the presence of a complex mind - one capable of producing symbols," he added.
- The discovery of Neanderthal art, represented by a face-like pebble with an intentional ocher fingerprint, underscores the potential for Neurological Disorders, such as those experienced by Neanderthals, to have enabled complex thought and symbolization, a key aspect of Health and Wellness in modern humans.
- The advent of technology, like Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, which allows for the study of artifacts, has opened new avenues to explore Medical-Conditions and cognitive abilities of ancient species like Neanderthals, challenging traditional beliefs and providing insights into the birth of Science and Artificial Intelligence.
- As researchers continue to explore prehistoric artifacts like the face-like pebble, they are uncovering evidence of Neanderthals' ability to perceive and symbolize human faces, which can contribute to the understanding and management of Neurological Disorders, deepening our knowledge in the field of Health and Wellness, and paving the way for advancements in Science and Artificial Intelligence.
