| | | Scientists Find 40,000-Year-Old Star Maps Featuring ‘Sophisticated Knowledge of Constellations’
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“Early cave art shows that people had advanced knowledge of the night sky within the last ice age. Intellectually, they were hardly any different to us today,” explained Dr. Martin Sweatman, from the University of Edinburgh.
“These findings support a theory of multiple comet impacts over the course of human development, and will probably revolutionize how prehistoric populations are seen.”
[----comet impacts or solar outbursts? or both?----]
The scientists concluded that these incredible cave paintings are evidence that ancient humans practiced a sophisticated method of timekeeping based on astronomical calculations and all of this despite the fact that the cave paintings were separated in time through tens of thousands of years.
“The world’s oldest sculpture, the Lion-Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, from 38,000 BC, was also found to conform to this ancient time-keeping system,” reveal experts in a statement by the University of Edinburgh.
The mysterious figurine is believed to commemorate a catastrophic asteroid impact that occurred around 11,000 years ago, kick-starting the so-called Younger Dryas Event, a period of sudden climate cooling.
“The date carved into the Vulture Stone is interpreted to be 10,950 BC, to within 250 years,” scientists explained in the study.
“This date is written using precession of the equinoxes, with animal symbols representing star constellations corresponding to the four solstices and equinoxes of this year.”
athensjournals.gr
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