Researchers have found a bear bone that is around 130,000 years old. The bone has cuts across its surface, and experts believe these cuts were made deliberately. They think this might be one of the earliest art pieces created by Neanderthals in Eurasia.
The bone is about four inches long and has seventeen cuts on it. The cuts are parallel to each other but not evenly spaced. The study suggests a right-handed person likely made these cuts all at once.
This carved bone is the oldest symbolic art created by Neanderthals in Europe, north of the Carpathian Mountains. It offers scientists insight into the behavior, thinking, and culture of our ancient human relatives. Neanderthals lived in Eurasia from about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago before they vanished, as reported by Live Science.
“It is one of the quite rare Neanderthal objects of symbolic nature,” said Tomasz Płonka, an archaeology professor at the University of Wrocław. “These incisions have no utilitarian reason.” For instance, the bone does not appear to be a tool or object of ritual importance, the study found.
Arm bone of a young brown bear
In 1953, researchers found this bone in Dziadowa Skała Cave in southern Poland. At first, they thought it was a bear’s rib.
They dug it up from a layer dating back to the Eemian period, about 130,000 to 115,000 years ago. It was a warmer time during the last ice age.
However, recently, Płonka’s team discovered it’s actually the arm bone, or radius, from the left forelimb of a young bear, likely a brown bear.
In their recent study, researchers used a 3D microscope and computed tomography (CT) scans to closely examine the bone. These methods helped them create a digital model of the bone. From this model, they noticed certain patterns in the marks on the bone.
Firstly, the marks were repetitive, meaning they were made in a similar way multiple times. Secondly, despite some differences in size, they all followed the same basic shape.
Thirdly, the markings were limited to a specific area on the bone even though there was space for more marks. Lastly, the cut marks were organized systematically even though the distance between them varied slightly.
Prehistoric artists may have had advanced cognitive abilities
Researchers noted in their study, published on April 17th in the Journal of Archaeological Science, that these consistencies in the marks suggest prehistoric artists weren’t simply doodling. Instead, they may have possessed advanced cognitive abilities.
To understand how these incisions were made, the team conducted experiments. They used replica flint blades and Middle Paleolithic knives to make marks on fresh cattle bones. This involved trying out seven different incision techniques, including back-and-forth movements and vigorous sawing motions.
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