Pleistocene painting – "A volcanic eruption is an eyewitness to Neanderthals"



[ad_1]

Volcano erupts

A rock imprint has been discovered near the eruption site of the UNESCO Geopark in Kula, Manisa Province, Turkey. The painting, which illustrates the eruption of the volcano, shows how humans from thousands of years ago have been able to illustrate natural phenomena in their own way.

A new study aimed to determine the age of the prehistoric footprints found in the ash layer produced by the Çakallar volcano eruption, which occurred in the city of Kula, in the west. of Turkey, 245,000 years later than expected, according to new research involving researchers from Curtin University.

The lead Australian author, Dr. Martin Danišík, of Center John de Laeter based at Curtin University, said previous studies suggested that footprints belonged to Homo neanderthalensis since the Pleistocene, but the news Discoveries indicated that they could be younger than expected.

"Footprints, commonly known as" Kula's footprints ", were discovered in the 1960s when building workers, who were moving away from the volcanic rock of one of the volcanoes in the area, found them well preserved in volcanic ash-grained end "Danišík said.

"Cave of Mystery" – evidence of a lost branch of human evolution

"Our team was able to determine the age of volcanic ash that preserved footprints using two different techniques. A radiogenic helium dating method was used to measure the age of eruption of tiny zircon crystals, and the cosmogenic chlorine exposure dating method was used to measure the residence time of volcanic rocks near Earth's surface.

"The two independent dating approaches have shown consistent results internally and collectively suggest that Homo sapiens has witnessed the volcanic eruption during the prehistoric bronze age, there are 4 700 years and 245,000 years later than expected. "

Research also suggests that after the initial eruption, humans and their canine companions slowly approached the volcano, leaving distinctive traces in the moist ash cover on the surface. Volcanic activity continued, resulting in the burial of ashes in the dark colored volcanic rock, thus preserving the footprint.

Homo Naledi, newly discovered species – "Maybe we have had the story of human evolution wrong all the time"

Mr. Danišík explained that humans had witnessed the final stages of the volcanic eruption at a safe distance, making it very likely that Homo sapiens are also responsible for the rock paintings found near the site.

"Rock painting is a fascinating link with footprints, as it shows how humans, 4,700 years ago, were able to paint natural processes, such as a volcanic eruption, in their own way, with limited tools and materials, "said Dr. Danišík. .

The research was led by researchers from Hacettepe University in Turkey and co-authored by researchers from Curtin University, Istanbul Technical University and the University of Istanbul. Celal Bayar University in Turkey, and Heidelberg University in Germany.

The Daily Galaxy via Curtin University

Image credit: Shutterstock

[ad_2]

Source link