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Gizmodo
4 days ago
- General
- Gizmodo
Did a Neanderthal Spot a Face in This Rock 43,000 Years Ago—and Leave a Fingerprint Behind?
While digging inside a cave in the Spanish city of Segovia, archaeologists uncovered an unusual rock. The hand-sized stone naturally resembled an elongated face, and featured a spot of red pigment made from ochre right on the tip of what may be considered its nose. 'We were all thinking the same thing and looking at each other because of its shape: we were all thinking, 'This looks like a face,'' David Álvarez Alonso, an archaeologist at Complutense University in Madrid who was part of the dig, told The Guardian. Álvarez Alonso and his colleagues spent the next three years studying this bizarre rock. The researchers posit that 43,000 years ago, a Neanderthal dipped their finger in ochre and pressed it onto the stone's central ridge—leaving behind what is now considered to be the world's oldest complete human fingerprint. It's an intriguing finding that could have significant implications, but some experts would like to see more evidence to support this hypothesis. The team published its findings in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences on Saturday, May 24. In the paper, the archaeologists state that the 'strategic position' of the dot suggests it is evidence of Neanderthals' 'symbolic behavior.' In other words, it's a piece of art that 'could represent one of the earliest human face symbolizations in prehistory.' 'The fact that the [rock] was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ochre shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing and projecting his or her thoughts on an object,' the researchers write. Whether Neanderthals were capable of making art is a subject of ongoing debate, co-author María de Andrés-Herrero, a professor of prehistory at Complutense University, told the BBC. But over the past decade, a growing body of evidence has led many experts to believe that artistic expression emerged earlier in human evolution than previously thought. The authors of this new study think their stone adds to this evidence. To reach this conclusion, they first needed more data to support the idea that this ancient artist had actually experienced pareidolia: seeing a face in an inanimate object. To that end, they generated a 3D model of the stone's surface and measured the distances between its features, finding that the red dot—or nose—was placed such that it accurately resembled an actual nose on a human face. Then, the researchers enlisted the help of geologists to characterize the red dot, confirming that it was made with ochre. Forensic police experts then used multispectral analysis—a technique that can reveal details invisible to the naked eye—to confirm that the red dot had been applied with a fingertip. Their analysis uncovered a fingerprint that could have belonged to an adult male Neanderthal inside the dot. 'Once we had that and all the other pieces, context and information, we advanced the theory that this could be a pareidolia, which then led to a human intervention in the form of the red dot,' Álvarez Alonso told The Guardian. 'Without that red dot, you can't make any claims about the object.' But Gilliane Monnier, a professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota who studies Neanderthal behavior, is not totally convinced by the researchers' findings. 'The fact that there are these natural depressions—and that we can measure the distance between them and argue that it's a face—that's all well and good,' Monnier, who wasn't involved in the study, told Gizmodo. 'But that doesn't give us any indication that the Neanderthals who [occupied this cave] saw a face in that [rock].' What's more, she is skeptical of the researchers' claim that the red dot was actually made with a human fingertip. It's possible, she said, that the coloring and fingerprint-like ridges formed naturally. 'I would be interested in seeing an explanation by a geologist—someone trained in geology—saying the likelihood of this forming by natural, geological or geomicrobial processes is a very low likelihood,' Monnier said. The researchers, too, acknowledge that 'it is unlikely that all doubts surrounding this hypothesis can be fully dispelled,' and state that the pareidolia hypothesis should not be seen as a definitive claim, but rather a possible explanation for this object based on the evidence. So it's hard to say whether this study clarifies or complicates our understanding of how the human mind evolved the ability to create art. The face-shaped rock is an intriguing piece of the puzzle, but more research is needed to figure out where it fits.
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
Pebble with finger print suggests Neanderthal may have created art
The quartz-rich granite pebble included indentations resembling a face, its nose a Rudolph-like red dot visible at center. Significantly, the spot didn't appear to be random, instead bearing evidence indicating it was the product of someone's imagination. "The ocher dot does not appear as a shapeless addition or a mere stain," wrote lead author David Alvarez-Alonso of Madrid's Complutense University. "Rather, it contains a fingerprint that implies the pigment has been applied specifically with the tip of a finger soaked in pigment." The authors consider the artifact a nonutilitarian visual symbol - in other words, not a tool but an altered or marked object with possible symbolic significance. While its age makes it impossible to draw any definitive conclusions, they wrote, the stone could "represent one of the oldest known abstractions of a human face in the prehistoric record." ????Hemos resuelto un caso de 43.000 anos de antiguedad Se trata de la????huella dactilar mas antigua del mundo y nuestra Policia Cientifica ha logrado el hito de su identificacion por procedimientos no invasivos de teledeteccion junto a la @unicomplutense Ha sido fundamental el... — Policia Nacional (@policia) May 27, 2025 "The fact that the pebble was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ocher shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing and projecting his or her thoughts on an object," they wrote. An expanding Neanderthal portfolio This isn't the first time a Neanderthal fingerprint has been pinpointed, the authors noted. A partial one, likely made by a thumb, was found on resin discovered in Germany in 1963. However, the discovery offers yet another dab of evidence suggesting that Neanderthals made art. In 2018, The Guardian reported archaeological findings in Spain indicating that Neanderthals used red ocher to produce shapes and symbols on cave walls 65,000 years ago. The species flourished from roughly 350,000 to 40,000 years ago, and studies indicate they and modern humans may have gone their separate ways as long as 800,000 years ago. Increasing evidence has indicated that Neanderthals were more advanced than once thought. In 2020, a paper published in the journal Science said evidence found in a coastal cave in Portugal suggested Neanderthals were skilled fishermen who regularly consumed seafood as part of their diet. Until then, only humans (Homo sapiens) had been thought to look to the sea as a food source. Meanwhile, the discovery of 176,000-year-old structures deep within a French cave hinted at Neanderthals' ability to use fire and work in groups. A 2016 article in Nature described strange, circular edifices constructed in an interior space 360 yards removed from daylight; the formations were made from uniform stalagmites, many of them cut to size. With the earliest known human-built structures 40,000 years old, the cave formations not only predate such activity by Homo sapiens but also show Neanderthal utilization of deep caves began much earlier as well. According to the study, the earliest indications of modern humans using deep caves are less than 42,000 years old.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Science
- USA Today
A 43,000 year-old work of art? Neanderthals may have painted portraits.
A 43,000 year-old work of art? Neanderthals may have painted portraits. An ancient granite pebble included indentations resembling a face, its nose a red dot. A study says it may have had symbolic significance. Show Caption Hide Caption Tourist climbs sacred Mayan pyramid in Mexico A German tourist was escorted from an archaeological complex when he climbed and attempted to evade security at a Mayan pyramid in Mexico. An eight-inch rock found at an archaeological site in central Spain is the latest indication that Neanderthals were making art long before modern humans, further eroding stereotypes of the extinct species as dull-witted. The July 2022 discovery at San Lázaro rock-shelter in Segovia, described as 'exceptional' by the authors of a paper published May 25 in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, dates back 43,000 years – long before modern humans inhabited the area. The quartz-rich granite pebble included indentations resembling a face, its nose a Rudolph-like red dot visible at center. Significantly, the spot didn't appear to be random, instead bearing evidence indicating it was the product of someone's imagination. 'The ocher dot does not appear as a shapeless addition or a mere stain,' wrote lead author David Álvarez-Alonso of Madrid's Complutense University. 'Rather, it contains a fingerprint that implies the pigment has been applied specifically with the tip of a finger soaked in pigment.' The authors consider the artifact a nonutilitarian visual symbol – in other words, not a tool but an altered or marked object with possible symbolic significance. While its age makes it impossible to draw any definitive conclusions, they wrote, the stone could 'represent one of the oldest known abstractions of a human face in the prehistoric record." 'The fact that the pebble was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ocher shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing and projecting his or her thoughts on an object,' they wrote. An expanding Neanderthal portfolio This isn't the first time a Neanderthal fingerprint has been pinpointed, the authors noted. A partial one, likely made by a thumb, was found on resin discovered in Germany in 1963. However, the discovery offers yet another dab of evidence suggesting that Neanderthals made art. In 2018, The Guardian reported archaeological findings in Spain indicating that Neanderthals used red ocher to produce shapes and symbols on cave walls 65,000 years ago. The species flourished from roughly 350,000 to 40,000 years ago, and studies indicate they and modern humans may have gone their separate ways as long as 800,000 years ago. Increasing evidence has indicated that Neanderthals were more advanced than once thought. In 2020, a paper published in the journal Science said evidence found in a coastal cave in Portugal suggested Neanderthals were skilled fishermen who regularly consumed seafood as part of their diet. Until then, only humans (Homo sapiens) had been thought to look to the sea as a food source. Meanwhile, the discovery of 176,000-year-old structures deep within a French cave hinted at Neanderthals' ability to use fire and work in groups. A 2016 article in Nature described strange, circular edifices constructed in an interior space 360 yards removed from daylight; the formations were made from uniform stalagmites, many of them cut to size. With the earliest known human-built structures 40,000 years old, the cave formations not only predate such activity by Homo sapiens but also show Neanderthal utilization of deep caves began much earlier as well. According to the study, the earliest indications of modern humans using deep caves are less than 42,000 years old.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Fingerprint made by Neanderthal 43,000 years ago could be world's oldest portrait
A fingerprint left by a Neanderthal on a rock 43,000 years ago could be the oldest known figurative representation of a human face, scientists have suggested. The discovery of the pebble marked in pigment may be evidence that our close evolutionary cousins – who died out 40,000 years ago – displayed 'symbolic' behaviour and had an ability to think in an abstract way, according to a new study. The study posits that a Neanderthal may have discovered the rock and, after being struck by its likeness to a face, felt compelled to place a single ochre mark in its centre marking where its nose would be. Researchers said they 'couldn't believe' what they were looking at when they first discovered the stone during an excavation in July 2022 at the the San Lazaro rock shelter, a Neanderthal site near the Spanish city of Segovia. At more than 20cm in length, the stone was twice the size of any others found in that part of the site, did not resemble anything that had been used as a hammer or another tool, and was marked with a single, eye-catching red dot. 'The stone was oddly shaped and had a red ochre dot, which really caught our eye,' said archaeologist David Alvarez Alonso, of Complutense University in Madrid. 'We were all thinking the same thing and looking at each other because of its shape: we were all thinking, 'This looks like a face'. But obviously that wasn't enough,' Professor Alonso told The Guardian. 'As we carried on our research, we knew we needed information to be able to advance the hypothesis that there was some purposefulness here, this was a symbolic object and that one possible explanation – although we'll never know for sure – is that this was the symbolisation of a face.' After initial research proved that the red dot had indeed been created using a pigment, which was not found anywhere else at the site, the team contacted Spain 's scientific police to inform them of their discovery. Further analysis confirmed that the dot was in fact a fingerprint, likely to belong to an adult male Neanderthal. The researchers believe that one of the Neanderthals found the quartz-rich granite stone, 'which caught his attention because of its fissures, and he intentionally made his mark with an ochre stain in the middle of the object,' Europa Press quoted Prof Alonso as saying. According to their research, the stone was carried at least 5km from the nearby Eresma River, suggesting it was deliberately selected and intentionally brought to the shelter, where no other pigments were found. In a study published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, the authors wrote: 'The fact that the pebble was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ocher shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolising, imagining, idealising and projecting his or her thoughts on an object. 'Furthermore, in this case, we can propose that three fundamental cognitive processes are involved in creating art: the mental conception of an image, deliberate communication, and the attribution of meaning.' prehistoric record.'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
World's oldest fingerprint may be a clue that Neanderthals created art
One day around 43,000 years ago, a Neanderthal man in what is now central Spain came across a large granite pebble whose pleasing contours and indentations snagged his eye. Something in the shape of that quartz-rich stone – perhaps its odd resemblance to an elongated face – may have compelled him to pick it up, study it and, eventually, to dip one of his fingers in red pigment and press it against the pebble's edge, exactly where the nose on that face would have been. In doing so, he left behind what is thought to be the world's oldest complete human fingerprint, on what would appear to be the oldest piece of European portable art. The discovery, which could enrich our understanding of how Neanderthals saw and interpreted the world, has come to light after almost three years of research by a team of Spanish archaeologists, geologists and police forensic experts. The dig team noticed there was something odd about the stone – which is just over 20cm in length – as soon as they found it while excavating the San Lázaro rock shelter on the outskirts of Segovia in July 2022. It did not look like something that had been used as a hammer or an anvil; it didn't look like a tool at all. 'The stone was oddly shaped and had a red ochre dot, which really caught our eye,' said David Álvarez Alonso, an archaeologist at Complutense University in Madrid. 'We were all thinking the same thing and looking at each other because of its shape: we were all thinking, 'This looks like a face'. But obviously that wasn't enough. As we carried on our research, we knew we needed information to be able to advance the hypothesis that there was some purposefulness here, this was a symbolic object and that one possible explanation – although we'll never know for sure – is that this was the symbolisation of a face.' Determined to test their conviction that the red mark was a human fingerprint placed deliberately between the indentations that could have been the eyes and mouth of a face, the team enlisted the help of other experts. Further investigations confirmed that the pigment, which contained iron oxides and clay minerals, was not found elsewhere in or around the cave. 'We then got in touch with the scientific police to determine whether we were right that the dot had been applied using a fingertip,' said Álvarez Alonso. 'They confirmed that it had.' The print, they concluded, was human and could be that of an adult male. 'Once we had that and all the other pieces, context and information, we advanced the theory that this could be a pareidolia [catching sight of a face in an ordinary, inanimate object] which then led to a human intervention in the form of the red dot,' said the archaeologist. 'Without that red dot, you can't make any claims about the object.' Álvarez Alonso argues that the dot's existence raises questions that all point in the same direction. 'It couldn't have been a coincidence that the dot is where it is – and there are no markings to indicate any other use,' he said. 'So why did they bring this pebble from the river to the inside of the cave? And, what's more, there's no ochre inside the cave or outside it. So they must have had to bring pigment from elsewhere.' The team's findings, reported in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, reinforce the idea that Neanderthals – who died out some 40,000 years ago – were capable of acts of artistic and symbolic creation, meaning modern humans were not the first to use art as a means of expression. 'The fact that the pebble was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ochre shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolising, imagining, idealising and projecting his or her thoughts on an object,' the authors write. 'Furthermore, in this case, we can propose that three fundamental cognitive processes are involved in creating art: the mental conception of an image, deliberate communication, and the attribution of meaning. These are the basic elements characterising symbolism and, also prehistoric – non-figurative – art. Furthermore, this pebble could thus represent one of the oldest known abstractions of a human face in the prehistoric record.' Álvarez Alonso and his colleagues are looking forward to the debate that their discovery will reignite over whether modern humans were the first artists. 'We've set out our interpretation in the article, but the debate goes on,' he said. 'And anything to do with Neanderthals always prompts a massive debate. If we had a pebble with a red dot on it that was done 5,000 years ago by Homo sapiens, no one would hesitate to call it portable art. But associating Neanderthals with art generates a lot of debate. I think there's sometimes an unintentional prejudice.' Still, said the archaeologist, he and the rest of the team believed the most logical explanation was that someone, a very long time ago, 'saw something special in this pebble', picked it up and set about imbuing it with meaning. 'Why would a Neanderthal have seen it differently from the way we see it today?' he asked. 'They were human, too. The thing here is that we're dealing with an unparalleled object; there's nothing similar. It's not like art where, if you discover a cave painting, there are hundreds more you can use for context. But our assertion is that the Neanderthals had a similar capacity for symbolic thought to Homo sapiens – and we think this object reinforces that notion.'
