It is now believed to symbolize the star constellation Leo. The Lion-Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, the oldest known sculpture, dates back to 38,000 BCE. The painting in Lascaux, France, as well as other prehistoric art cited in the study, also suggested that other ancient relics were used for time-taking. Intellectually, they were hardly any different to us today," Sweatman said in a press release. "Early cave art shows that people had advanced knowledge of the night sky within the last ice age. But the new research suggests that the phenomenon was understood long before the ancient Greeks. Greek astronomer Hipparchus is credited with discovering the science of equinoxes around 129 BC. By noting the star constellations seen on certain dates, the ancient people also showed an understanding of the equinoxes, which occur due to the gradual shift of Earth's rotational axis on its orbital path. The archaeologists believe that humans from up to 40,000 years ago used this art as a way to keep track of time. The ancient people who created this art were tracking time long before the ancient Greeks Then they used advanced software to calculate where stars were positioned at the times the art was created.Īfter comparing the two sets of data, they figured out that many of the cave paintings mark the dates of significant comet sightings, and were correlated with star constellations that were visible at those times. For their research, the team analyzed the chemical makeup of the paint used in cave drawings and dated the art back 12,000 to 40,000 years. Martin Sweatman and Alistair Coombs from the Universities of Edinburgh and Kent published their findings in the Athens Journal of History last month. The art, which includes drawings of bulls, rams, leopards, scorpions, and fish, actually represents constellations of stars in the night sky, they said. Chart the stars and planets visible to the unaided eye from any location, at any time of day or night, on any date between the years 1600 to 2400 by entering your location, either via zip code, city, or latitude/longitude. But researchers in Europe now believe that humans living thousands of years before the ancient Greeks already had a nuanced understanding of the stars.Īfter studying previously known cave paintings depicting animals across Spain, France, Turkey, and Germany, two researchers realized the illustrations weren't just drawings of nearby wildlife. The interactive sky chart offers a lot in the way of customizing what you want to see. Many historians credit ancient Greek scholars like Plato and Aristotle for advancing the field of modern astronomy. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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