'Oldest known drawing' found in South Africa and other ancient art
- Published
These red lines look a bit like an ancient hashtag. Found on a stone in a South African cave, the drawing is 75,000 years old and is thought to be the earliest known drawing by humans.
Until the discovery of this cave painting in Spain, scientists didn’t think cave men and women were clever enough to make such detailed artwork. This image of a bison is one of the best preserved drawings in the world.
This might remind you of your nursery school art but the difference is that these hand paintings in Argentina are on a cave wall rather than a fridge door. The human hands in this picture were painted 13,000 years ago.
The Lascaux caves in France have been given the nickname “prehistoric Sistine Chapel”. Many people say the caves are home to some of the most impressive cave drawings in the world. The paintings in the caves are estimated to be 17,000 years old.
Experts believe that some prehistoric cave etchings found in Rouffignac in France were made by children. They reckon kids ran their fingers down the soft surfaces of the walls in the cave. Researchers have found a way to identify the age and gender of the artists, and think a lot of the art was done by a five-year-old girl.
Nearly all of these rock drawings at the Taira Valley in Chile feature pregnant llamas. It's thought the art was created by shepherds as a celebration of life over 2,000 years ago.
- Published26 January 2018
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