Anatomical and genetic evidence points to Homo sapiens being about a quarter of a million years old. But we do not know when our ancestors acquired language, culture and the other trappings of modern humanity.
Artworks are the key to answering this question, says Ben Smith, who studies rock art at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. "Art tells us about the makers' social systems, beliefs and rituals. It's like looking into their brain."
The next-oldest marks generally accepted as art are French cave paintings, the oldest of which date back about 35,000 years.
These paintings led some researchers to posit that art arose in Europe. The new findings suggest otherwise, says Smith. "Art, culture and religion originated in Africa, and arrived in Europe as a package," he says.
Such attributes might even be older than modern humans, says Smith. Some million-year-old stone tools are far too big to be functional: "They might have a symbolic element," he says.
{sending ultra-rational people out to get the lowdown on art seems kind of counter-productive. I remember when I first realized that the captions in nat'l geo's were just made up, written by someone, that they didn't necessarily KNOW anyhting, but were being paid to come up with some words that fit the pictures. but that's what it is. just people talking, trying to hold on to their jobs, reputations, you know. the problem is most obvious here, at the intersection of paleontology and human creativity. the idea that someone back there might have been trying to get hold of the hugeness of things, or the smallness of self, might have been holy-crazy and following the mad star. just making something without plan or forethought, or permission.}
