The World’s Oldest Paintings
One of the most spectacular archeological finds of the past century came to light in December 1994 at Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, France and was announced at a press conference in Paris on January 18, 1995.
Unlike some other recent “finds” of prehistoric art that proved to be forgeries, the paintings in the Chauvet Cave (named after the leader of the exploration team, Jean-Marie Chauvet) seemed to be authentic.
But no one, including Chauvet and his colleagues, guesses at the time of their discovery that radiocarbon dating (a measure of the rate degeneration of carbon 14 in organic materials) of the paintings might establish that the murals in cave were more than 15,000 years older than those at Altamira.
When the scientific tests were completed, the French archeologists announced that the Chauvet Cave painting were the oldest yet found anywhere, datable around 30,000-28,000 BCE.
The Chauvet Cave or is located in the Ardèche département, southern France.
It became famous in 1994 after a trio of speleologists found that its walls were richly decorated with Paleolithic artwork, that it contained the fossilized remains of many animals, including those that are now extinct, and that the floor preserved the footprints of animals and humans.
The World’s Oldest Paintings
One of the most spectacular archeological finds of the past century came to light in December 1994 at Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, France and was announced at a press conference in Paris on January 18, 1995.
Unlike some other recent “finds” of prehistoric art that proved to be forgeries, the paintings in the Chauvet Cave (named after the leader of the exploration team, Jean-Marie Chauvet) seemed to be authentic.
But no one, including Chauvet and his colleagues, guesses at the time of their discovery that radiocarbon dating (a measure of the rate degeneration of carbon 14 in organic materials) of the paintings might establish that the murals in cave were more than 15,000 years older than those at Altamira.
When the scientific tests were completed, the French archeologists announced that the Chauvet Cave painting were the oldest yet found anywhere, datable around 30,000-28,000 BCE.
The Chauvet Cave or is located in the Ardèche département, southern France.
It became famous in 1994 after a trio of speleologists found that its walls were richly decorated with Paleolithic artwork, that it contained the fossilized remains of many animals, including those that are now extinct, and that the floor preserved the footprints of animals and humans.
The World’s Oldest Paintings
