Are ancient cave paintings the work of children?

Researchers found that a quarter of the stencils studied were not large enough to fit adult or adolescent hands. Photo: AFP

Archaeologists have been studying cave paintings for years. Many have been searching out clues that would reveal information about the artists who created them. Now, researchers based in Europe have published their research suggesting that they were much younger than previously thought.

Veronica Fernandez-Navarro, Edgard Camaros and Diego Garate’s recent work posits the idea that children, even very young ones, could be at the origin of some of the most famous cave paintings around the world.

To reach this conclusion, the scientists looked at 180 hand stencils painted in Spanish caves in Fuente del Salín, Castillo, La Garma, Maltravieso and Fuente del Trucho nearly 20,000 years ago.

Their investigations revealed that these pre-historic frescoes were made by blowing coloured pigments, for example, through a reed or hollow bone to trace the outline of the artist’s hand against the cave wall.

This process gives the impression that the hand is slightly larger than it actually is. The researchers found that a quarter of the stencils studied were not large enough to correspond to the hands of adults or even adolescents. Instead, they would correspond to children between the ages of two and 12.

“This study has determined that the proportion of infants, children and juveniles hands is significantly high, which attests the clear participation of these groups in the symbolic activities of Upper Palaeolithic groups in south-west Europe,” the authors outline in the study, recently published in the journal Journal of Archaeological Science.

Cave art, a group activity

This discovery suggests that the creation of rock paintings was a genuine family activity. And for good reason, the youngest children would not have been able to blow the pigments hard enough to mark the contours of their hand on the rock. They would have had to be accompanied by their parents or another adult to help them in this task.

“It would appear that artistic activity was not a closed activity closely linked to male individuals and the survival of the group, as had been thought until now,” Fernandez-Navarrogical explained to The Telegraph.

However, researchers still wonder about the meaning of such patterns. Were they a form of non-verbal communication? The mystery remains unsolved for the moment. But answers could soon be found, as was the case for the red drawing which decorates the interior of the Pinwheel Cave in California.

An international team of researchers asserts that it represents a Datura flower, a toxic plant with hallucinogenic properties, unfolding in the shape of a swirl at dusk.

While archaeologists still do not know the exact conditions under which this illustration was created, they believe it indicates that the site was an appropriate place for the consumption of Datura in groups.

This may have taken place on the occasion of initiation ceremonies, or during the preparation of hunting expeditions. – AFP