THEDAWNOFART
Last summer,archæologists
from NovosibirskInstitute of
Archæology and Ethnography,
excavatingthe Denisovacavein
the AltaiMountains, discovered
the figurine ofacavelion
(Panthera spelæa)–42mm
long,8mm thick and 11mm
high –made fromawoolly
mammoth tusk by an Upper
Palæolithic artist between
40,000 and 45,000years ago.
It wasfound inside the 11th
layer of the southerngallery.
The preciseageisyet to be confirmed,
but the cautious dating means that this
might be the oldest animal figurine in the
world. The lion’s head is missing; what
we see is its hind legs,groin,back and
belly, covered inan ornament of 18 rows
of notches. Thereare twoextrarowswith
four notches on the lion’s right side.“The
figurine depictsananimalwith its tummy
tucked in, its hind legs bent,” said Mikhail
Shunkov,headoft he Institute’s Stone
AgeArchæology Department. “Itise ither
galloping, jumpingorgettingready to
jump. The animal is showninatypical big
cat position for the moment when they
are ready to catchaprey.”
The archæologistsbeliev eitis“ too
simplistic”toassumethe figurinewasa
toy, but there is no evidence that itwas
acult item.The mammoth ivoryhad to
be carried for at least60miles (100km)
from the northern slopes of the Altai
Mountains. Traces of red ochre,mostly
around the stomach area, suggest the
whole figurinewasoncepainted red. In
2018 a‘pencil’ andamarble stone with
traces of ochre powder were discovered
in the same area. The assumption is that the
artistwasaDenisovan, bu tasProfShunkov
pointed out,Homo sapienswasalready
wondering aroundSiberia 45,000years
ago, so they might well have influenced the
Denisovans.The figurinedoesn’t resemble
any previous find; the closest in style arecave
lion figurines fromVogerfelt Cave in south-
west Germany,and from cavesinsouth-west
France.
The DenisovaCavelies right at the border
of the Altai region and the AltaiRepublic in
south-western Siberia.Locals callitA yu Tash,
whichmeans Bear Rock. Itis relatively small
with afloor area of about 270m^2 (2,900ft^2 ).
It has threegalleries–the cosyCentral
Chamber withhigh, archedceiling andahole
that lets in naturallight, the South Gallery and
the East Gallery.Nicelypositioned abovethe
Anuy River,the cave first caught the attention
of Sovietscientists in the 1970s when they
foundpalæo-archæological remains.InSiberianarchæologists discovered atiny
finger bone fragment of‘X woman’,ajuvenile
female believed to have lived around 41,
years ago[FT262:22]. Analysis showed she
wasgenetically distinct from thick-browed
Neanderthals and modern humans. The
recent addition to the human family tree
waschristened Denisovan. Fu rther research
showed that the Denisovans wereasister
group of Neanderthals.The two groups split
from acommon ancestor around 390,
years ago.siberiantimes.com,20Nov 2019.- Ahunting scene paintedonacavewall
on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has
been dated to nearly44,000years old,
making it the earliest known figurativecave
artbyour species.Itisnearly twice as old
as any previous hunting scene and provides
unprecedented insights into the earliest
storytellingand the emergenceofmodern
human cognition. Lastyear,acavepainting of
an animal made at least
40,000years agowas
discovered in Borneo
[FT376:14]. Previously,
images of this level of
sophisticationdate to
about 20,000years
ago, with the oldest
cave paintings believed
to be more basic creations such as
handprints.
The Sulawesi cave (knownas Leang
Bulu’Sipong 4) is inawell-explored
system, whichresearchers had visited
frequently over the past decade.The
hunting scenewasdiscovered in 2017
after anexpedition member noticed
what appeared to be an entrancetoa
high-levelchamber aboveand climbed
up afigtree to investigate.The 4.5m
(15ft)-wide panel shows six fleeing
mammals–two Sulawesiwartypigs
and four dwarfbuffaloes, known as
anoas, small butfierce animals that
stillinhab it the island’s dwindling
forests.The animals are beingpursued
by therianthropes (human-likefigures
with some animalfeatures), who seem
to be wielding longswords or ropes.
Theirbodies are human-shaped,but
one appears to have the head of a
birdand anotherhas atail. Human-
animal hybrids occur in the folklore
of almost every modern society and
are frequently cast as gods,spirits or
ancestral beings in religions across
the world.Anivoryfigurine ofalion-headed
human–found in the Hohlenstein-Stadel
Cave in the Swabian JurainGermany in 1939
and dating from 35,000 to 40,000years ago
[picturedFT361:14]–was,until now,thought
to be the earliest depiction ofatherianthrope.
Some researchers have questioned
whether thepanel representsasingle story,
suggestingitcould beaseries of images
painted overalonge rperiod. Rock artis
difficult to date,and th escientists relied on
analysing mineral growths, know nascave
popcorn, that had formed over the painting
[FT321:18]. Measuringthe radioactive
decay of uranium and other elements
in the depositsgavedates ranging from
35,100 to 43,900years asaminimumage
for the Sulawesi panel, the earliest date
relating to one of thewartypig dr awings.
The findings are described in the journal
Nature.theguardian.com, 11 Dec; BBC News,
D.Telegraph, 12 Dec 2019.PAUL SIEVEKINGreports on two discoveries which push back the dates for the earliest visual artRATNOSARDIINSTITUTE OF ARCHEO
LO
GY
AN
DE
THNOGRAPHY
14 FTLEFT:Thelion figurine
discoveredintheDenisova
cave,Siberia.BELOW:
40,000-year-oldcaveart
fromSulawesi,Indonesia.ARCHÆOLOGY AMONTHLYEXCAVATIONOFODDITIES AND ANTIQUITIES