Panel of Hands, hand stencils dated as 37,300 years old, disk dated at least 40,600 years old.  El Castillo, Spain (Photo: Pedro Saura)

Nawarla Gabarnmang rock shelter, created 28,000 years ago.  Northern Territory, Australia

In the past few days, recent discoveries have been reported about some of the world’s oldest works of art.  The hand stencils and disks from El Castillo, Spain have been dated 10,000 years earlier than previously thought, thanks to uranium-thorium dating (as opposed to radio carbon dating).  Here’s how the process was described by the LA Times:

When the team collects a “tiny, tiny” sample of the carbonate, they can use mass spectrometry to count the number of uranium and thorium atoms and, from the ratio, determine the age. The age of carbonate on the surface of a painting gives the minimum age of the artwork, and the age of carbonate behind it gives a maximum age.

Here are a few more images of the hands and disks.

Panel of Hands, hand stencils dated as 37,300 years old.  El Castillo, Spain (Photo: Pedro Saura)

Disks, disk dated at least 40,600 years old.  El Castillo, Spain (Photo: Pedro Saura)

In Australia’s Northern Territory, a series of Aboriginal paintings in the Nawarla Gabarnmang rock shelter were analyzed using radiocarbon dating, with the conclusion that they were created 28,000 years ago (read about radiocarbon dating at the British Museum here).

How inspiring that our very ancient ancestors were driven to produce such lasting works of art! Ars longa, vita brevis.

Nawarla Gabarnmang rock shelter, created 28,000 years ago.  Northern Territory, Australia