Rock Art

The rock engravings created by Stone Age hunter-gatherers depict animal tracks and human footprints.

The stone carving was found in an ancient communal building in Turkey from the Neolithic period around 11,000 years ago.

The rock art was found in the central Markazi Province and appears to depict a praying mantis and a squatting man.

Symbolism has been an important part of human society since prehistoric times. Scientists show that engravings become more salient, more memorable and easier to reproduce over time.

Researchers say that the engravings in the cave are the oldest of their kind ever discovered in the Spanish autonomous region of Catalonia.

Using carbon extracted from wasp nests, scientists were able to date Australian rock art to a period of sea level rise and social disruption.

Researchers say the cave drawings, dated to around 44,000 years, may represent the capacity for religious or spiritual thinking.

"These well-preserved paintings...record the ancient tribes' reverence for the prosperity and circle of life," one researcher said.

Study looks at the reasons behind "an enigmatic feature of the rock art" found at sites across Western Europe.

Several rock slabs were found with paintings and inscriptions on them.

The explosion occurred thousands of years before the current oldest record of such an event.

For as much as it might reveal about ancient island cultures, the art itself is incredibly tiny.

"The thing that surprised us the most was the sheer size of some of the engravings."

The camel image startled experts because it was found in the Ural Mountains, far from where camels could be seen in the Paleolithic era.

"A million bones won't tell me what these images are telling me."

The engraving, known as a petroglyph, shows a circle with curved, intricate swirling emissions issuing from it.