A trio of archaeologists has reported discovering the first Paleolithic cave art ever found in Great Britain. During a search at Creswell Crags in Derbyshire last April, the site of caves known to have been occupied near the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 years ago, the team found what it believes is an engraving of an ibex (wild goat) as well as what may be the images of two birds.
Drawing from ibex engraving.
CREDIT: ANTIQUITY
Sergio Ripoll of the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia in Madrid, Paul Pettit of the University of Oxford, and independent archaeologist Paul Bahn report the find in the June Antiquity. If the discovery is verified, it would stretch the distribution map of Paleolithic cave art about 450 kilometers northwards from the most northerly site known, in Normandy.
Bahn says that the team explored the Creswell caves because engraved bone had been found there. The wall engravings--which are difficult to see without proper side lighting--had not been spotted before.
Archaeologists say they want to see more evidence before they accept the 12,000-year age for the engravings, which is is based on radiocarbon samples from earlier excavations. French cave art expert Jean Clottes says he'll withhold judgement until specialists carry out "an indepth geological and morphological study of the cave walls."
