For years, archaeologists have argued about the exact age of the beautiful rock paintings in a cave near Vallon-Pont d'Arc in southern France. Research by the University of Groningen has now confirmed that the drawings must be at least 30,000 years old. This makes them by far the oldest known rock art in the world.
In 1994, the French speleologist Jean-Marie Chauvet discovered the cave drawings near Vallon-Pont d'Arc. On the walls of a hidden chamber 500 meters deep, he discovered hundreds of strikingly realistic drawings of animals such as horses, bears, buffalo, and even lions. The drawings were in very good condition.
Archaeologists established the age of the drawings by subjecting the charcoal used to make many of the works of art to the so-called C14 method (carbon dating). This involves looking at the natural radioactive decay of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms decay at a known rate, so by counting the amount of carbon atoms still present, a statement can be made about the age of the material.
The investigation found that the drawings were 30,000 to 32,000 years old. This would make them by far the oldest rock paintings in the world. “Impossible,” said Paul Pettitt, a renowned British cave art specialist. According to him, the drawings are far too refined to be so old. According to Pettitt, the drawings cannot be older than 27,000 years. It is different, according to Pettitt:“as if you had found a Renaissance painting in a Roman villa”.
Cave bears
The University of Groningen decided to conduct an alternative study. Cave bears can be seen in the drawings. Bones of this bear species have also been found in a neighboring cave. In Groningen, the age of the bones was determined using the C14 method. DNA from the bones was also analysed. From this, the remains were found to be 37,000 to 29,000 years old. The slight variation in DNA suggests that the population was small and vulnerable, which is consistent with the cave bear being completely extinct 29,000 years ago. However, according to biologists, the marked bears are indeed cave bears. In that case, the drawings must be at least 29,000 years old.