Scientists Found Unusual Handprints at This Isolated Site, and No One Knows Who Made Them
The Daily Galaxy • • science
Key Points:
- Handprints and footprints pressed into travertine on the Tibetan Plateau, dating between 169,000 and 226,000 years ago, may represent the oldest known artistic expression.
- The impressions, made when the travertine was soft near Quesang village, show a deliberate and structured arrangement, suggesting intentional artistic behavior rather than random or functional markings.
- Analysis indicates the prints were made by two children, around 7 and 12 years old, with the presence of handprints linking the site to early forms of parietal art, which is rare in the fossil record.
- These findings push back the timeline for fixed artistic expression by over 100,000 years, predating previously known examples from Sulawesi dated to around 40,000 years ago.
- The discovery challenges current understanding of when human creative behavior and artistic traditions began, suggesting a much earlier origin.
