Archeologists Discover Oldest Cave Drawing Ever Found in South America

Amaze Lab

A series of cave paintings were recently discovered in Patagonia in Argentina. Experts say this is an archeological find for the record books as these are now considered the oldest such cave drawings ever discovered on the continent.

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00:04 These cave paintings were recently discovered in Patagonia in Argentina,

00:08 and experts say this is an archaeological find for the record books,

00:11 as these are now considered the oldest such cave drawings ever discovered on the continent.

00:16 All in all, there are 895 paintings found in the Huayna 1 cave,

00:21 a massive cavern some 6,781 square feet large.

00:26 Now, after extensive investigations of the ancient works,

00:29 the archaeologists say they are around 8,200 years old.

00:32 What's more, the researchers say that the practice of keeping particular patterns on the walls

00:37 was sustained for three millennia,

00:38 which they said could have been a practice which was passed down for close to 130 human generations.

00:44 They say this is an excellent illustration of what could have been artistic and cultural

00:48 transmission of hunter-gatherer societies during the Holocene period.

00:51 The Holocene period lasted from around 7,000 to around 5,000 years ago.

00:56 The archaeologists add that these cave paintings show the Stone Age culture's resilience to things

01:00 like climate change and how they may have communicated between unconnected tribes.

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