A carved bear bone dating back 130,000 years is the oldest artwork in Eurasia. However, it does not belong to our species, Homo sapiens.
A research team led by Professor Tomasz Płonka, an archaeologist from the University of Wrocław (Poland), has employed modern techniques to analyze an artifact excavated over 70 years ago and discovered that it is art created by Neanderthals.
According to Live Science, the bear bone was discovered in 1953 at the Dziadowa Skała cave in southern Poland.
The bear bone identified as artwork by Neanderthals, captured from four different angles – (Photo: Journal of Archaeological Science).
The sediment layer containing the bone dates back to the Eemian period (130,000 to 115,000 years ago), one of the warmer periods of the last ice age.
Initially, archaeologists believed it was a rib bone from a bear. However, new analysis by Dr. Płonka and colleagues revealed that it is the left forelimb bone, possibly from a brown bear (Ursus arctos).
In parallel, the process of re-examining the bone using 3D microscopy and computed tomography (CT) – which created a digital model of the bone – further clarified the “strange markings.”
They found that the markings were intentional, with some of the incisions being systematically repeated.
To determine how the cuts were made, the research team created experimental marks on fresh livestock bones using flint blades and Paleolithic knives, employing seven incision techniques, including back-and-forth and strong sawing motions.
This indicates that these incisions do not align with butchering activities, tool use, or animal trampling. Instead, they were finely carved into the bone using a flint knife.
In other words, it is indeed a work of art. At 130,000 years old, it is the oldest artwork in Eurasia.
From this, the research publication in the Journal of Archaeological Science concludes that these consistencies suggest that the prehistoric artist not only doodled but may also have possessed advanced cognitive abilities.
The cylindrical bone, approximately 10.6 cm long, is decorated with 17 evenly spaced parallel cuts. The person who carved it did so in one go and was right-handed.
Interestingly, he or she was not our species, Homo sapiens, based on other archaeological evidence from the area.
The area where the bone was found was an ancient territory of Neanderthals during that time.
They are a species within the Homo genus (human) that interbred with our ancestors approximately 30,000-40,000 years ago, leaving a small percentage of DNA in most of us today.
Neanderthals had a distinctive habit of creating similar parallel markings on bones, which researchers today believe may represent some form of symbolic culture.
One of the most interesting examples ever found is the skull of a female of this species with 35 carvings, most of which are parallel.
Previously, it was thought that the life of Neanderthals was rather primitive. However, evidence found in recent years suggests that before their extinction, they had developed advanced skills in weaving, weapon-making, tool crafting, jewelry…
They also had a close social organization, division of labor within the community, as well as unique burial customs and styles of cave art.
Some of the primitive techniques of Homo sapiens may have even been inherited from this other species.
