200,000 years ago in what is now Tibet, two children left a set of hand and foot prints on a travertine boulder, still identifiable today and is thought to be the earliest example of cave art.
In today’s episode, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Sally Reynolds from the University of Bournemouth, who describes the evidence that suggests this was a deliberate act of creativity, highlighting the human urge to make art goes back millennia.
We also learn that these feet and hands likely belong to Denisovans, predating Homo sapiens in Europe and Asia.
It’s a fascinating discussion around not just art, but also the earliest evidence of humans living high altitude anywhere in the world, and a glimpse into what human behaviour would have been like to allow for children to be this creative nearly a quarter of a million years ago.
Up Next in Archive of Dan Snow's History Hit 🎧
-
🎧 Dan, Portsmouth and Aircraft Carriers
Listen to the excitement in Dan's voice as he takes us around Portsmouth and explains the history of aircraft carriers by actually going on the soon-to-be HMS Queen Elizabeth! If you love this episode half as much as Dan did, you'll have a great time and learn a lot
-
🎧 Danny Boyle: Pages of the Sea, a 14...
Danny Boyle joins Dan to discuss his 14-18 Now project, Pages of the Sea, which marks 100 years since the Armistice.
-
🎧 Czech Braveheart: Jan Žižka
Jan Žižka is the legendary Czech national hero who led Hussite forces against three crusades and never lost a single battle. His rise to military greatness is now told in the feature film titled Medieval, starring Ben Foster and Sir Michael Caine - the most expensive Czech film ever made.
In thi...
1 Comment