What was the first drawing ever made?

The discovery in Blombos Cave, South Africa, of a stone carrying an abstract drawing in ochre pigment about 73,000 years old – the earliest known human drawing – was announced in a paper published in Nature.

Archaeologists discovered the 1.5-inch-long (3.8 centimeters) rock flake in Blombos Cave, an archaeological site on the coast of South Africa, about 185 miles (300 kilometers) east of Cape Town. The cave is famous for its Middle Stone Age artifacts — including shell beads and engraved stone tools — that were left by humans who lived there between 100,000 and 70,000 years ago.

The flake was covered with ash and dirt, but a quick wash revealed the red crosshatch lines, Henshilwood noted. The ancient drawing includes six parallel lines that are crossed by three slightly curved lines, the researchers said.

In other words, the piece of abstract art “is a hashtag,” said Henshilwood, who added that the drawing predates other known early human drawings by at least 30,000 years.

 

Picture Credit : Google