Prehistoric rock art was often the handiwork of children and babies
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Children and babies could be responsible for up to a quarter of prehistoric rock paintings, a new study has found, suggesting it was often a family-oriented group activity rather than work of individual males.
Researchers from Spain’s University of Cantabria and Cambridge University looked at 180 examples of art involving outlines of hands – made by blowing pigment through a hollow reed or bone – from more than 20,000 years ago in caves across Spain.
When they analysed the hand sizes, they found that in some caves, up to 25 per cent of prints seemed to involve children no more than 12 years old.
Verónica Fernández-Navarro, the leader of the study – which was published by the Journal of Archaeological Science – said: “From the real hand to the one on the wall there are always a few centimetres of error, because the silhouette comes out larger. We calculated that error and many more children’s hands came out than we expected.”
The researchers said the findings should help to demystify prehistoric cave art, something that is often put on a pedestal, perhaps due to how long it has survived.
“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,” said Ms Fernández-Navarro.
Most of the children’s hand art appeared to correspond to individuals aged between three and 10.
But there were also outlines of hands of toddlers and even babies, who would not have been able to blow hard enough themselves and must have been helped by parents or other carers.
“This activity could have served as an element of group cohesion,” Ms Fernández-Navarro said.
The researchers noted that most of the hands they examined on the walls of five caves spread across the Spanish regions of Cantabria, Aragon and Extremadura were placed in prominent and easily visible positions.
