World's oldest figurative artwork uncovered

[wnylib]

5. ir's close to the time that Neanderthals

went extinct. The artwork is dated at 44,000 years ago. Neanderthal extinction was about 37,000 to 40, 000 years ago.

The timing for the srtwork also includes the arrival of Homo sapiens in the same region (eastern Indonesia). Homo sapiens had reached as far as Australua by 50,000 years ago.

During the period of this artwork, Homo sspiens was interbreeding with Neanderthal. In this region, Homo. sapiens was also interbreeding with Denisovans, who were distantly related to Neanderthals through a much earlier common ancestor.

So the artists who created these paintings might have been a mix of any combination of those 3. Even that long ago, as is true today, our ancestors were a mix, without 'pure' membership in a 'race,' or exclusive genetic pool.

The painting referred to as a human being has a rough resemblance to the shape of the island where the artwork exists. Was it meant to be a depiction of the land they lived on?