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(Maybe) the Most Ancient Artwork

A 3D-scan of the print panel from Quesang, with different colors reflecting different depths.
A 3D-scan of the print panel from Quesang, with different colors reflecting different depths. Photo: D.D. Zhang et al. / Science Bulletin

These hand and foot impressions were discovered near a hot spring on the Tibetan Plateau. The prints were made between 169,000 and 226,000 years ago, predating the famous cave paintings at Lascaux and Sulawesi by over 120,000 years. The archaeologists frame them as the earliest known artwork made by humans; whether you buy that those ancient people had artistic intentions or not is up to you. Based on their size, the team suspects the prints—10 in all—were made by two children.

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