Using advanced dating techniques, the scientists have been able to confirm that the oldest image, a large red disk on the wall of El Castillo cave in northern Spain, is more than 40,800 years old.
The new findings, detailed in the journal Science, also pushed the art back into a time when modern humans co-existed with their Neanderthal cousins in Europe, the scientists said.
"It would not be surprising if the Neanderthals were indeed Europe's first cave artists," study author Joao Zilhao, a professor at the University of Barcelona, was quoted as saying by LiveScience.
Neanderthals have been portrayed as brutish, animalistic cavemen, but the archaeological evidence suggests they weren't dummies. They went extinct around 30,000 years ago but before that, they mingled with early modern humans, believed to have arrived in the European about 42,000 years ago.
Finding the age of cave paintings has been a tough task for researchers with the usual radiocarbon dating methods. But Zilhao and his team used a new method called uranium-thorium dating that studies deposits of the mineral calcite over cave paintings.
The team examined a total of 11 caves in northern Spain, including famed spots like Altamira with its painted herds of bison. At Altamira, they found an image of a red horse that dates back at least 22,000 years and a clublike image that is at least 35,600 years old.
The club symbol has been painted over with the famous colorful bison herd, which dates to around 18,000 years ago. In other words, Altamira was a popular spot for artists for a very long time. (More)
