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U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art

Hoffmann, D.L.; Standish, C.D.; García-Diez, M.; Pettitt, P.B.; Milton, J.A.; Zilhão, J.; Alcolea-González, J.J.; Cantalejo-Duarte, P.; Collado, H.; de Balbín, R.; Lorblanchet, M.; Ramos-Muñoz, J.; Weniger, G.-Ch; Pike, A.W.G.

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Authors

D.L. Hoffmann

C.D. Standish

M. García-Diez

J.A. Milton

J. Zilhão

J.J. Alcolea-González

P. Cantalejo-Duarte

H. Collado

R. de Balbín

M. Lorblanchet

J. Ramos-Muñoz

G.-Ch Weniger

A.W.G. Pike



Abstract

he extent and nature of symbolic behavior among Neandertals are obscure. Although evidence for Neandertal body ornamentation has been proposed, all cave painting has been attributed to modern humans. Here we present dating results for three sites in Spain that show that cave art emerged in Iberia substantially earlier than previously thought. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates on carbonate crusts overlying paintings provide minimum ages for a red linear motif in La Pasiega (Cantabria), a hand stencil in Maltravieso (Extremadura), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales (Andalucía). Collectively, these results show that cave art in Iberia is older than 64.8 thousand years (ka). This cave art is the earliest dated so far and predates, by at least 20 ka, the arrival of modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal authorship.

Citation

Hoffmann, D., Standish, C., García-Diez, M., Pettitt, P., Milton, J., Zilhão, J., …Pike, A. (2018). U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art. Science, 359(6378), 912-915. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap7778

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 1, 2017
Online Publication Date Feb 23, 2018
Publication Date Feb 23, 2018
Deposit Date Mar 2, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Science
Print ISSN 0036-8075
Electronic ISSN 1095-9203
Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 359
Issue 6378
Pages 912-915
DOI https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap7778

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Copyright Statement
This is the author’s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal
use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Hoffmann, D. L., Standish, C. D., García-Diez, M., Pettitt, P. B., Milton, J. A., Zilhão, J., Alcolea-González, J. J., Cantalejo-Duarte, P., Collado, H., de Balbín, R., Lorblanchet, M., Ramos-Muñoz, J., Weniger, G.-Ch. & Pike, A. W. G. (2018). U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art. Science 359(6378): 912-915 on 23 February 2018.





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