By comparing the ratio of uranium to thorium in the thin layers on top of the cave art, researchers were able to calculate the age of the paintings Posted on 10/04/2008 6:50:29 PM PDT by BGHater
It may have taken Michelangelo four long years to paint his fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,but his earliest predecessors spent considerably longer perfecting their own masterpieces.
Scientists have discovered that prehistoric cave paintings took up to 20,000 years to complete.
Rather than being created in one session, as archaeologists previously thought, many of the works discovered across Europe were produced over hundreds of generations who added to, refreshed and painted over the original pieces of art.
Until now it has been extremely difficult to pinpoint when prehistoric cave paintings and carvings were created, but a pioneering technique is allowing researchers to date cave art accurately for the first time and show how the works were crafted over thousands of years.
Experts now hope the technique will help provide a valuable insight into how early human culture developed and changed as the first modern humans moved across Europe around 40,000 years ago.
By comparing the ratio of uranium to thorium in the thin layers on top of the cave art, researchers were able to calculate the age of the paintings
Dr Pike and his team were able to date the paintings using a technique known as uranium series dating
Bison on the ceiling of the polychrome chamber in the Altamira cave in northern Spain
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
And if we believe in evolution, and of course we all do, the conclusion to draw is that the paintings were started by naked apes and completed by a man in a Georgio Armani suit.
|
|
|||
Gods |
Boy, their arms must have been tired when they got done.they are making you and the Post Office look bad with their speed:'P Yeah, that's funny. ;') |
||
|
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
Makes more sense that something is incorrect in the dating process.
But...
I'm still waiting for the discovery of a cave where fishermen immortalized 20,000 years of "It was T - H - I - S big!!!" stories... '-)
Heh.
No doubt they are in here somewhere.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-history-rewritten-in-rock-art-951828.html
IIRC, there are a fair number of paintings throughout the cave network.
But don’t quote me on that.
“...the paintings were started by naked apes and completed by a man in a Georgio Armani suit.”
Something like this, perhaps?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uw03hS_EMY
Phtttt! I can decipher the paintings:
“Save money on your bison insurance by switching to Geico. It’s so easy, a cave man can do it.”
Now that was funny!
And calcium carbonate deposition rate is known for the past 20,000 years?
When I lecture on archaeology and demonstrate flintknapping to school classes, I usually wear a necklace that includes some red "beads". After I let the kids handle the necklace, I like to explain that those red "beads" are actually indigestible "Mountain Coral" beans, and that they came from an Indian rockshelter in a side canyon off the Pecos River in West Texas. Then I tell them that the beans were there because the only visitors to that shelter between the Indians and my archaeological survey crew were goats -- and that the beans had passed through the goats' intestinal tracts. LOL!!! I usually get some funny reactions!!
We actually made it into several shelters that even the goats had not reached. To know that we were the first to see those beautiful pictographs since the indians who made them (and who left their straw sandals and mats behind) was quite a stirring experience...
That’s almost as long as the Boston “Big Dig!”
I really dont know if I believe that.
I hope they got paid by the hour....
Thanks for the link! After seeing those galleries, I know I’d far rather spend a week or two at Davidson’s camp than anywhere in Europe!
How can they use uranium to determine 20,000 years?
Just a bunch of graffitti by prehistoric taggers......
Think of the overtime pay!
“those beautiful pictographs”
Are there reproductions on line?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.