It appeared after digging up a rock. He resembles a human face and suggests that Neanderthals could create art. The world's oldest fingerprint brings new questions. It is believed that a man from Neanderthal immersed his finger in red pigment to paint a nose on a stone about 43,000 years ago. The rock was discovered in the coat of San Lázaro, in Segovia, Spain.
Evidence the symbolic behavior of Neanderthals. He suggests that they had the ability to think abstractly. And contributes to the debate on the ability of Neanderthals to create art. Professor Andrés-Herrero, from the Complutense University of Madrid, explained it.
Artistic end
«We couldn't believe what we saw. It is a stone with a red point right in the center. It makes it look like a human face ». It was confirmed that the point was a pigment. The team conducted an exhaustive investigation by multispectral analysis and identified a fingerprint.
The stone analysis also suggested that the fingerprint belonged to an adult man. It was stated that the stone was the oldest portable object in the European continent. And is "the only object of portable art painted by Neanderthals." Professor Andrés-Herrero analyzed the findings of her research group. They suppose «an important contribution to the debate on the symbolic capacity of the Neanderthals. It is the first known object with pigments marked in an archaeological context ».
The human fingerprint was found in a non -utilitarian context. This suggests that the point in the stone had artistic purposes. It is the first time that scientists discover a stone in an archaeological context with a red ocher point. This means that the Neanderthals brought it to the shelter. It is believed that one of the Neanderthals found the stone. «Surely he was struck by his fissures. And left his mark intentionally with an ocher pigment spot in the center of the object ».
Art piece
Researchers believe the brand was not accidental. According to its findings, the red pigment does not exist naturally in the shelter. That means that it was "brought intentionally." The world's oldest fingerprint is art. The article is published in the magazine Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. «The Guijarro of the Rocky Coat of San Lázaro presents a series of characteristics that make it exceptional. It is a visual symbol that could be considered a piece of mobile art in some contexts ».
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