5 Discoveries That Made Archaeologists Question the Origins of Art

Discoveries in the archaeological record have sparked debate about how we should define art. Some researchers argue that art must go beyond simple representations and instead convey symbolic ideas, beliefs, or concepts that transcend what was immediately visible to the artist. Others take a broader interpretation, considering the function and intent behind the piece, which could push back the origins of art by hundreds of thousands of years. This article explores five groundbreaking discoveries that made archaeologists question the origins of art.

In 1939, excavators of Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave in Southwest Germany discovered almost 200 fragments of mammoth ivory that were pieced together to form what is now known as the Lion-Man. The mythical creature, carved 40,000 years ago, combines the features of a cave lion, a dangerous predator from the last ice age, and a human. Further excavations between 2008 and 2013 uncovered almost 600 additional ivory fragments, allowing researchers to restore the figure to its current state.

Hohlenstein is one of the six caves of the Swabian Jura mountain range, home to some of the world’s oldest figurative art and instruments. The fragments were found in the Aurignacian layer, an Upper Palaeolithic culture in Europe that was pivotal to our understanding of early modern human behavior in the Swabian Jura. One extraordinary example is the discovery of the Venus of Hohle Fels Cave, which pushed back the arrival of Venus figurines by at least 5,000 years.

The polished body indicates that the statuette was frequently passed between people, and similar signs of wear can be observed on other artifacts discovered in the region. At Hohlenstein-Stadel, the fragments were found by an alcove deep in the cave, with scarcely any debris to indicate human presence. As researchers pieced together this knowledge, an image came to light of people sporadically gathering in the cave, using the sculpture in a ritualistic routine.

Archaeologists recently found what is now broadly acknowledged as humanity’s first figurative art: the three painted pigs on the walls of Leang Tedongnge Cave in Indonesia, discovered in 2017. The painting has since been dated to around 45,500 years ago and displays a scene of three Sulawesi warty pigs (Sus celebensis), hand-painted with red ochre, on a limestone wall. Further excavations revealed similar depictions of these native pigs across caves and shelters around Sulawesi, indicating the value of the prey species to the Pleistocene inhabitants who hunted them. Animals have historically been the subjects of art, such as in Mesopotamia, symbolizing the significance of animals in the day-to-day lives of our ancestors.

Early archaeologists assumed a creative revolution had occurred in Europe, as there was a seemingly sudden appearance of sophisticated figurative art around 30,000 years ago. Exploration of Chauvet Cave in southern France, for instance, revealed a spectacle of animals—lions, rhinoceroses, mammoths, panthers, and bears—painted and engraved on its walls.

A series of discoveries of Pleistocene cave art across several Maros-Pangkep caves in Sulawesi provided evidence that cave art did not emerge independently in Europe, as academics once believed. It appears likely that further discoveries of paintings, sculptures, and engravings will continue to reveal a trail of art from other regions.

The cave paintings, using pigment made from pulverized ochre and water, were dated using a method called uranium series dating. Calcium carbonate deposits form what is known as “cave popcorn,” similar to stalactites, and allow archaeologists to carefully estimate the date of cave art. From the uranium present in these calcite crusts, scientists can date the oldest layers of the deposit by measuring the decay of uranium isotopes into thorium, providing a minimum age for the painting below.

Ongoing excavations at Blombos Cave on the southern Cape coast of South Africa have unearthed some of the earliest evidence of human cultural expression. A cross-hatched pattern, drawn around 73,000 years ago on silcrete stone, was discovered at the cave. To a modern eye, the red strokes may not constitute art, and many archaeologists themselves are hesitant to assign this label. However, while the intentions of the creator are unclear, the sketch represents the early beginnings of art and signifies an interest in “putting pen to paper,” so to speak, long before the first cave painting.

The artifact belonged to a level associated with the Still Bay technocomplex, a cultural phase of the Middle Stone Age (c. 280,000-25,000 years ago) in South Africa, known for its bifacial foliate pointed stone tools. While habitual use of ochre, a soft stone containing iron oxides, was known to occur around 160,000 years ago, archaeologists knew little of its processing and storage. This gap in knowledge was bridged when further excavations revealed an ochre processing toolkit at Blombos Cave, dating to 100,000 years ago. This notable discovery proved that these humans were able to retrieve, combine, and store ochre for social purposes or technological advancements.

The toolkit consisted of hammerstones and grindstones, used to crush the ochre, seal bone and charcoal, to be mixed with a liquid, and ochre stored in abalone shells. Archaeologists believe people used ochre for body paint, hide tanning, medicine, sun protection, and insect repellent, among other purposes.

Discoveries from Blombos could demonstrate that humans could use and understand symbols, particularly as people would have needed a form of language to communicate the meaning of the jewelry. Red, symbolizing blood and fertility in many hunter-gatherer cultures, could have been used to convey a similar meaning over 100,000 years ago.

Scientists reported deliberate cut markings on eight eagle talons discovered over a century prior, revealing that Neanderthals once adorned themselves with jewelry 130,000 years ago. The talons, found at the Krapina Neanderthal site in Croatia, belonged to the white-tailed eagle, one of Europe’s largest birds of prey. Cut markings indicate that the claws were perforated to string together a bracelet or necklace, and the polished surfaces offer evidence that the jewelry was worn as the pendants rubbed together.

Archaeologists have long believed Homo sapiens to be unique in our complex cognitive capacity and ability to attribute symbolic meaning to art and ornaments. The talons, dated 80,000 years before Homo sapiens arrived in Europe, paint a different picture of Neanderthals to the misconstrued perception of the species as mindless and brutish. Further discoveries over recent years document the sophisticated abilities of Neanderthals through lithic objects, modified shells and talons, ochre, cave art, and feathers.

A minimum of three individual eagles were identified among the talons discovered in the faunal collection from Krapina, suggesting that the animals were acquired and preserved on separate occasions for later use. White-tailed eagles would have been rare in the environment, and acquiring the bird would have required a level of planning that Neanderthals were not previously thought to possess.

5. Children’s Handprint Art on the Tibetan Plateau

Geologist David Zhang and his team had come across indicators left by early humans on the Tibetan Plateau before, but a newly discovered sequence of small handprints and footprints told a different story. The team ventured to an inactive hot spring located near the Quesang Village in Tibet, where they encountered five handprints and five footprints on a rock’s surface. It appeared that the tracks had been intentionally imprinted into a rock surface at the hot spring, arranged in a way so that no print overlapped.

Scientists dismissed typical activities such as walking or running, claiming that the placement of the hands and feet showed clear intent. It is thought that the prints were made into soft travertine rock typical of a hot spring, which lithified over time. Uranium series dating of the travertine dated the rock between 160,000 and 226,000 years ago. This age range would place the impressions as the earliest known parietal (immobile) art, predating cave paintings like the Sulawesi warty pigs by at least 120,000 years.

Assuming the creators were Homo sapiens, scientists estimate that the handprints belonged to a 12-year-old and the footprints to a 7-year-old. However, this may not be the case, as remains discovered in the region and dated to the same timeframe indicate that the children could have been Denisovan.

Defining the impressions as art is open to interpretation. Should art be defined by the intention to create, or should we apply a more complex definition, requiring the art to have profound meaning? When searching for behaviors such as language and art in the archaeological record, we must consider earlier manifestations that emerged long before these complex expressions. It could be that the earliest sign of creative expression was as simple as a child pressing their hand to a rock.