French Caver Discovers Prehistoric Art

Gerard Jourdy, 63, has discovered prehistoric cave art, including a hand in cobalt blue, believed to date back 27,000 years. This would make them older than the famous Lascaux paintings, in the Dordogne, which are among the best known and most important prehistoric sites of Stone Age cave art.

"In a small chamber I found the bones of two hyenas - complete skeletons, which is rare. And I saw human bones amid the debris - tibias, vertebrae and shoulder-blades," he told the news agency.

"Then in the bigger chamber there was this hand - very beautiful, very delicate. There was just the one in cobalt blue. When you come into the chamber it is like it is greeting you. It's incredible."

Link. The French culture ministry confirmed the findings, and commented that "although the discovery was of interest, the paintings were not as spectacular as those in the Cosquer and Chauvet caves in the Ardeche."

Mr Jourdy also said he saw a sculpture of a face made from a stalactite - which would be a scientific first for the era, but experts were dubious about this claim, AFP says.
[...]
Experts think the caves were used for hunting rituals and shamanistic rites, and it is thought that the first paintings were done some 17,000 years ago.

Whatever the case, I'm just glad that there were no inappropriate nudes. I don't want this cave "ransacked by an angry mob."

Indexed by tags cave art, Lascaux, prehistory, cobalt, goddess