Children’s handprints could be world’s oldest art
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A team of scientists have found ancient children’s handprints and footprints high in the Quesang region on the Tibetan plateau in China.
The team says that this could be the earliest example of parietal art. Parietal art is paintings, drawings, and engravings on rock surfaces (like cave art).
The limestone on which they found the children’s handprints date to about 169,000 and 226,000 BC. If confirmed, this would make the site the earliest known site of ancient art.
Moreover, this could also be the earliest evidence for humans (Homo Sapiens) and other members of the Homo genus (family) living high up in the Tibetan plateau. This is quite amazing because it is very cold up there and would have been even colder at that time.
What do these children’s handprints look like?
Scientists found the hand and footprints preserved in limestone from a hot spring. They found five handprints and five footprints, probably made by two children. The children would have been around 7 and 12 years old, as per the size of the prints.
Moreover, scientists have found many handprints in ancient caves before too, in Indonesia and Spain. While we are not sure if these prints can be called “art”, they definitely show the creativity of children even at that time.
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