Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Science

Children Helped Decorate Prehistoric Caves of France 72

sciencehabit writes "Among the prolific paintings and other art in the 8 kilometer-long Rouffignac cave system in southwestern France are a number of unusual markings known as finger flutings, which are made by people dragging their hands through the soft silt that lines the cave's walls. By analyzing the finger flutings of modern humans, researchers discovered that the ratio of the distance between the three middle fingers indicate that many of the cave artists were very young children, one as young as 2 or 3 years old. The researchers were also able to tell the children's genders from the shape of the fingers."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Children Helped Decorate Prehistoric Caves of France

Comments Filter:
  • Re:Art? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Scutter ( 18425 ) on Sunday October 02, 2011 @09:56PM (#37586726) Journal

    How are we sure it's not just people dragging their fingers along the wall to navigate in the dark?

    Or people trying desperately to find something to grab onto as some unspeakable horror dragged them into the depths of the cave by their ankles?

Those who can, do; those who can't, write. Those who can't write work for the Bell Labs Record.

Working...