Ancient rock art in Argentinian cave may have transmitted information across 100 generations

[Judi Lynn]

7. This Ancient Cave Art Passed Survival Information Across 130 Human Generations in Patagonia, Study Suggests

Dating to as early as 8,200 years ago, the paintings may have maintained collective memories during an extremely dry period in history

Will Sullivan
Daily Correspondent

February 15, 2024 3:32 p.m

Ancient art in a Patagonian cave is several thousand years older than archaeologists previously thought, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. The depictions date to 8,200 years ago at the earliest and span around 3,000 years—suggesting 130 human generations painted on the cave’s walls and ceiling. The new findings make this the earliest known pigment-based cave art on the continent.

“It turned out to be several millennia older than we expected,” lead author Guadalupe Romero Villanueva, an archaeologist with the Argentine National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), tells Live Science’s Jennifer Nalewicki. “We got surprised.”

The cave, called Cueva Huenul 1, is located in the desert of northwest Patagonia in Argentina, about 1,000 meters above sea level. Its walls hold 895 different paintings grouped in 446 motifs. People repeatedly drew one of the motifs, a mysterious comb-like pattern, for thousands of years.

“As interesting as the ages are, for us it’s more significant that they span, more or less, 3,000 years of painting basically the same motif during all this time,” co-author Ramiro Barberena, also an archaeologist with CONICET, tells the New York Times’ Becky Ferreira.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-cave-art-passed-survival-information-across-130-human-generations-in-patagonia-study-suggests-180983802/