France History: Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Drawings Reclaim Oldest Animal Paintings From Indonesia

Chauvet-Pont d'Arc drawings in France are to receive the title of the oldest animal paintings. A team of scientists has unearthed new evidence that they are actually older than the previously recorded drawings.

Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave can be found in the Ardèche département, an area that is located in south-central France. Discovered in 1994, the cave features hand prints made by humans as well as drawings of 14 various animal species, such as cave bears and big cats. The drawings were estimated to be drawn from around 22,000 to 18,000 BCE and as such, it long held the title of being the oldest human-decorated cave on Earth.

However, animal paintings discovered in a cave in the island Sulawesi, Indonesia was dated to be roughly 35,000 years old. The earliest hand stencil was also found in the same cave 40,000 years ago.

Now, a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences details the collection and analysis of the researchers of more than 350 dates which were obtained by uranium-series, radiocarbon, chlorine-36 dating and thermoluminiscence, International Business Times UK reported.

About 80 of these dates were previously unpublished. They all come from 15 years of study about objects of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc that are related to human activity and rock art in the cave. As an example, scientists dated obtained materials that were used to draw the animals, such as charcoal from fires. Charcoal torch marks and bones of animals found in the cave were also examined.

These researchers have concluded from the analysis that humans first left their marks inside the cave about 37,000 to 33,500 years ago then re-occupied the cave sometime between 31,000 to 28,000 years ago. Dangerous rock slides forced humans and bears to stay away. The cave's entry portal was sealed by a rock 23,500 to 21,500 years ago.

Chauvet-Pont d'Arc may still reclaim the oldest record now that the new evidence suggested that the drawings in the cave were within the same timeline as the ones in the cave in Sulawesi, Daily Mail reported.