Ancient symbol made by human hand found in Israel
Scientists have long assumed that people learned to leave symbolic drawings on stones and bones as early as the Middle Paleolithic era (250,000-45,000 BC). But finds supporting this theory are extremely rare, Quaternary International reports .
Therefore, the discovery, made by archaeologists from the Hebrew University and the University of Haifa, along with a team from the National Center for Scientific Research in France, attracted a lot of attention from the scientific community. Perhaps the oldest human-made symbol was found in the Ramla area in central Israel.
The find is a fragment of the bone of an extinct cattle. Six primitive “engravings” have survived on one side. The age of the artifact was about 120 thousand years.
Ancient symbols were 38 to 42 millimeters long. They were made with a sharp instrument, most likely made of flint.
Scientists have confirmed that the drawings were made on purpose, and did not appear by accident, for example, when cutting carcasses. They have a distinct U-shape and the lines are wide and deep, meaning their creator clearly showed great attention to detail.
The analysis also made it possible to establish that the work was performed by a right-handed master in one working session. The bone of a large animal, most likely, was not chosen by chance – the symbols could mean the connection of the hunter with the killed creature.
“It is fair to say that we have discovered one of the oldest symbolic engravings ever found on Earth, and certainly the oldest in the Levant,” the authors of the scientific work noted.
The exact meaning of the symbols remains unknown. But scientists hope to uncover this mystery with further research.
Earlier it was reported that the oldest known image of an animal was found in Indonesia. It was made over 45 thousand years ago.
