The Cave of Los Aviones, located at sea level near
Cartagena in southeastern Spain, is a
paleontology site dating back to the
Middle Paleolithic era. It is famous for having yielded in 2010 several perforated and painted seashell beads thought to have been crafted as jewelry by
Neanderthals.[1][2]
The cave is a cemented marine
conglomerate. The site has yielded
ochred and perforated marine shells, red and yellow colorants, and shell containers that feature residues of complex
pigment mixtures.[2] The pigments on the sea shells were dated to 115,000 years old, making these "the oldest personal ornamentation known anywhere in the world," predating Homo sapiens.[1][2][3] Art is an archaeological proxy for symbolic behavior.[2]
^
abcd"Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals 115,000 years ago." Dirk L. Hoffmann, Diego E. Angelucci, Valentín Villaverde, Josefina Zapata, and João Zilhão. Science Advances 22 Feb 2018:
Vol. 4, no. 2, eaar5255.
doi:
10.1126/sciadv.aar5255