cave painting

The Archaeology of Seeing

We, as modern humans, tend to look at ancient art with a 21st-century mindset. It is all too easy to stare (in wonder) at Palaeolithic rock art and conceive some idea, however complex, and consider it to be a plausible interpretation.

ABOVE This painting of a Sulawesi warty pig has been dated back to at least 45,500 years ago.

Painting prehistoric pigs

A Sulawesi warty pig painted in red ochre on an Indonesian cave wall may be the world’s oldest known representational image of an animal, dating back at least 45,500 years, according to a study recently published in Science Advances. Archaeologists…

Photo: Margrethe K H Havgar, Museum of Cultural History

World News: Norway, Indonesia, Spain

Viking ship burial in Norway A Viking ship burial was recently discovered at Gjellestad, Norway, during a ground-penetrating radar survey. It is now being excavated by the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. The ship is just one part of…