We discovered the earliest prehistoric art is hand prints made by children

By Matthew Robert Bennett, Professor of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Bournemouth University
Sally Christine Reynolds, Principal Academic in Hominin Palaeoecology, Bournemouth University

Fossilised footprints, and more rarely, hand prints, can be found around the world; left as people went about their daily business, preserved by freak acts of geological preservation. In new research our international team have discovered ancient hand and footprints high on the Tibetan plateau made by children.

The team argues that these traces represent the earliest example of parietal art. Parietal art is paintings, drawings, and engravings on rock surfaces – the sort of thing you would…

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