Newly discovered 51,000 year old carved bone may be world’s oldest piece of art

Photo: credit: A. Tröller-Reimer / D. Leder. Article by Joseph Guzman.  The Hill – July 6, 2021.

The deer phalanx is inscribed with several deep slanting lines.

Story at a glance

• Researchers from the University of Göttingen and the Lower Saxony State Office for Heritage unearthed a decorated deer bone at the entrance of Unicorn Cave in the Harz Mountains in northern Germany.
• Researchers believe the uniform parallel lines were intentionally created, suggesting that Neanderthals were capable of artistic expression and symbolic thought.
• The age of the bone is much older than comparable works of art attributed to Neanderthals that date back to about 40,000 years ago, when modern humans arrived in Europe. […]

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