Londoner solves 20,000-year Ice Age drawings mystery [View all]
Source: BBC
Londoner solves 20,000-year Ice Age drawings mystery
5 January 2023
A London furniture conservator has been credited with a crucial discovery that has helped understand why Ice Age hunter-gatherers drew cave paintings.
Ben Bacon analysed 20,000-year-old markings on the drawings, concluding they could refer to a lunar calendar.
It led to a specialist team proving early Europeans made notes about the timing of animals' reproductive cycles.
Mr Bacon said it was "surreal" to work out for the first time what hunter-gatherers were saying.
Cave paintings of animals such as reindeer, fish and cattle have been found in caves across Europe.
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-64162799
Furniture conservator Ben Bacon made the initial discovery (Durham University/PA)
Dots like these from 23,000 years ago helped Ice Age hunter-gatherers survive (Henri Breuli/Durham University/PA Wire)
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