Mysterious pattern in a cave is the oldest rock art found in Patagonia
In the stark inland desert of Argentina's Patagonia lies a remote cave decorated with nearly 900 paintings of human figures, animals and abstract designs. Until recently, archaeologists assumed that the petroglyphs at this site, known as Cueva Huenul 1, were created within the past few thousand years.
But in an article published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, archaeologists say that one of the cave's most mysterious motifs, a comb-like pattern, first appeared some 8,200 years ago, making it by far the earliest known example of rock art at one of the last sites on Earth. earth that are still inhabited. by our kind. Cave artists continued to draw the same comb design in black pigment for thousands of years, an era when other human activities were virtually absent from the site. The cave art offers a rare glimpse into a culture that may have relied on this design to communicate valuable insights across generations during a period of climactic shifts.
“We got the results and we were very surprised,” said Guadalupe Romero Villanueva, author of the study and archaeologist at the Argentine government agency CONICET and the National Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought in Buenos Aires. “It was a shock and we had to rethink some things.”
Patagonia, which stretches across the southernmost tip of South America, was only reached by humans about 12,000 years ago. These early residents thrived at Cueva Huenul 1 for generations, leaving behind signs of habitation.
About 10,000 years ago the area became drier and more hostile due to climate changes. The archaeological evidence in the cave also dried up over the next several thousand years, indicating that the site was largely abandoned due to environmental pressures.
The crest motifs overlap with this long period of hardship, according to Dr. Romero Villanueva and her colleagues, who identified the age of the paintings with radiocarbon dating. The team also found that the black paint was likely made from charred wood, possibly from burned bushes or cacti.
“As interesting as the eras are, for us it is much more important that they cover more or less 3,000 years of painting, basically the same motif, during all this time,” says Ramiro Barberena, author of the study and archaeologist also at CONICET. in Argentina and Temuco Catholic University in Chile.
He added that this was evidence “of continuity in the transmission of information in these very small and highly mobile societies.”
Although the significance of the crest motif has been lost to time, the researchers speculate that it may have helped preserve the collective memories and oral traditions of peoples who endured this unusually hot and dry period.
The relationships between groups of ancient people who developed and shared such rock art may have increased the chances of survival in this challenging environment, said Dr. Barberena.
Andrés Troncoso, an archaeologist at the University of Chile's anthropology department who was not involved in the study, said he agreed with that interpretation. The article “contributes to the discussion about how people have dealt with climate change in the past,” he said.
Although the purpose of the crest motif will likely remain a mystery, the motif's continued presence in the cave opens a new window into the prehistoric peoples of Patagonia.
“You can't help but think about these people,” said Dr. Romero Villanueva, adding: “They were in the same place, admiring the same landscape; the people who lived here, perhaps families, gathered here for social aspects. It is very emotional for us.”