Age, sex of Neolithic cave painters revealed

[Wistman]

Study of Neolithic rock art at Los Machos rockshelter in southern Spain uses fingerprints to identify the age and sex of prehistoric painters.

(Sept. 9, 2020)

Quote

According to a new study published in the journal Antiquity, researchers recently analyzed two fingerprints discovered among the painted rock art in Los Machos rockshelter, in southern Spain. By looking at the ridges, which can reflect a person’s sex and age, they identified two prehistoric artists: a man who was at least 36 years old, and a young woman or juvenile, between 10 and 16 years old.

The study, done by a team of researchers from the University of Granada, Durham University, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, shines a rare light on the artists who produced Spain’s rock art and the society in which they lived. Created between 4,500 and 2,000 BC and painted by finger, the prehistoric “schematic art” involves strokes, circles, geometric motifs, and human figures [...]

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/fingerprints-help-identify-prehistoric-painters

Previous studies of Paleolithic hand stencils in Iberian caves have revealed gender through digital technology and context analysis, but this new study uses fingerprints from Neolithic painters in Iberian caves to reveal their gender and age.

http://infolab.stanford.edu/~wangz/project/imsearch/hand/ACMMM2010/wang.pdf      (Determining the Sexual Identities of Prehistoric Cave Artists using Digitized Handprints) 

[Piney]

The matching crooked little fingers in Chauvet indicate one of the artists might of been on the autism spectrum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauvet_Cave

[Wistman]

1 hour ago, Piney said:

The matching crooked little fingers in Chauvet indicate one of the artists might of been on the autism spectrum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauvet_Cave

Well I like that Piney.  Just goes to show that some personal traits of the painters can be drawn from the images without technology.  But this mirrors a drama that is current in the art world at present: who has the greater prestige as far as painting authentication is concerned, the technical analyst or the connoisseur.

[docyabut2]

they were

https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/cro-magnon-1

 

It is known that modern humans in the form of Cro-Magnons began arriving in the Iberian Peninsula around about 35,000 years ago

 

https://www.spanish-fiestas.com/history/iberians/

 

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by docyabut2