Were the San the first Europeans?
Scientists query who left their hand impressions in Europe’s caves, writes Shaun Smillie
A sample of African hands might point out the identity of a mysterious group of prehistoric artists who left their art across France and Spain. The artists crept deep into caves, braving lions and bears. They placed their hands against rock faces and blew pigment over them, creating hand stencils that survived for tens of thousands of years. Who these people were is a mystery, as is their reason for creating their art. Many scientists believe they were the first Europeans, a people known as the Gravettians, who lived between 17,000 and 33,000 years ago. But other scientists argue that the hands that made the prints are small compared with the Gravettians, who were believed to have been tall and robust. But now a group of South African, Australian and US academics are arguing that the artists were African — and the proof is in the hands of their descendants, who live in the Kalahari today. In the latest issue of the journal Transactions of the Royal Society of SA, they suggest the ha...
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