Creativity is timeless, and the find of handprints left by Denisovan children is one of the oldest graffiti art in prehistory found by scientists. Its age is more significant than any known cave painting that gives a window into the earliest periods of humankind.
The date of the artwork is known to be one of the oldest art examples, which is a significant entry to the history of civilization. Even if it is just five hands and footprints of young Denisovan, 226,000 years is ancient.
Ancient graffiti made by young Denisovans
Researchers from Guangzhou University have estimated the sample to be about three or four times older than earlier finds seen in France, Indonesia, and Spain, which adds a layer to studies reported in the Daily Mail.
In 2018, it was discovered in rocky outcropping in Quesang, Tibetan Plateau. Based on the examination of ancient graffiti, it was made by young Denisovan, said the study authors. The team consulted the archaeologist Thomas Urban from Cornell University in New York to determine whether it could be considered an art. Urban's work of the New Mexico footprints in the White Sands National Park would help scientists know it was art, noted Science Daily.
One of the clues is how handprints left by Denisovan children were made the oldest graffiti art-pressed into the travertine, a terrestrial limestone laid down near hot springs, that solidified over the millennia, one of the main signs Urban looked for. When the limestone formation was exposed, it would have a sloped surface on it.
Urban added that no one would run over it and fall into it like that. Furthermore, the way the prints were arranged had no logic and was not significant too.
One conclusion is the hominids' innate creativity, called being 'human'-signs of an early creative streak that is remarkable early. The young Denisovan saw the material and manipulated it intuitively. It was intentional art-making that needs to be studied more. When the young ones saw what they did, calling attention to it, displaying their handprints and footprints, cited CTV News.
How the design of the handprints was the place is very intentional compared to the footprints, the rock which has it is seldom examples of our earlier ancestors. These are valuable records that show early humanity and everything about it. Or what made them human, despite their era.
Art and innate creativity made the Denisovans 'human'
Scientists call the handprints corresponding to the Tibetan art style, which involves stenciling hands on cave walls. The estimated age of the Quesang art panel has beaten similar examples by thousands of years, at 169,000-226,000 years ago, which is very old.
This art on the Sulawesi Island in Indonesia and the El Castillo cave in Spain will be as old as 40-45,000 years back, with the France cave painting in Chauvet at 30,000 years old. Should the archaic Quesang prints will be considered art depending on criteria. Still, the definition of what is creative behavior is open to discussion. These handprints were left by Denisovan children a long time ago, and if it is the oldest graffiti art, it would be what made them human.