Scientists have for the first time pinpointed the age of prehistoric wall paintings inside Fond de Gaume, a famous decorated cave near Les Eisies in the Dordogne (southwest France).
New discoveries provide a positive date for two black statues – a bison and a mask-like figure – and reveal that some of the artworks were created at widely separated times. The results could provide archaeologists with a powerful new way to reconstruct conditions when people entered decorated caves, painted pictures, and returned to make changes and additions to the caves.
Why is it difficult to date Ice Age cave paintings?
The Dordogne Valley is home to some of Europe’s most famous prehistoric art, including the paintings of Lascaux. However, it is still very difficult to determine exactly when many of these images were created.
Radiocarbon dating is done by measuring carbon-14, a radioactive form of carbon that gradually disappears after an organism dies. Because charcoal is made by burning organic material, it can often be dated using this method. However, mineral pigments usually do not contain carbon and cannot be analyzed in the same way.
Researchers have long believed that many of the region’s black paintings were made entirely from iron and manganese oxides. These naturally occurring minerals produce a black pigment but do not contain the organic carbon needed for radiocarbon dating.
As a result, it was generally considered impossible to directly date this work. However, scientists had never conclusively proven that pigments do not contain any carbon at all.
Look for charcoal hidden in the pigment
To find out, researchers analyzed the chemical composition of the two black statues at Font de Gaume. One depicts a bison and the other is commonly described as a mask.
The research team used two techniques that allow them to identify the material without causing noticeable damage to the artwork: Raman microspectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging.
Raman microspectroscopy uses light to study how molecules vibrate, producing chemical signatures that help identify dyes and other substances. Hyperspectral imaging records subtle differences in color and reflected light at each point in an image. Scientists can use these measurements to determine which compounds are present.
Hyperspectral imaging is widely used in cultural heritage research because it can reveal features that are difficult or impossible to see with the human eye. It also has applications in biomedicine, agriculture, environmental monitoring, and astrophysics.
Both methods revealed that the painting’s black pigment contained traces of charcoal.
The charcoal was distributed consistently across the black line in the figure. This pattern was important because it showed that the carbon was part of the original pigment, rather than contamination left by later graffiti, visitors, or tourist activity inside the cave.
A small sample reveals the age of a painting
Once the charcoal was identified, researchers received exceptional permission to take a tiny sample for carbon-14 dating.
Analyzing such limited materials is technically difficult. Scientists need to collect enough carbon to get reliable measurements while removing as much as possible from ancient images.
The results confirm that the bison’s origins date back to the late Paleolithic period, when anatomically modern humans created many of Europe’s most famous cave paintings.
Bison was drawn between 13,461 calBP and 13,162 calBP.
CalBP stands for “Calibrated Before Present” and is currently traditionally defined as 1950. Because the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere changes over time, radiocarbon measurements must be calibrated. These fluctuations can be influenced by factors such as solar activity and changes in the Earth’s magnetic field.
The new date indicates that bison appeared slightly later than previously estimated.
A mysterious mask created over time
Masks produced more mixed results. Taking samples from separate parts of the diagram resulted in three different ranges.
One section was dated between 8,993 and 8,590 calBP. Another was identified between 15,981 calBP and 15,121 calBP, and a third was placed between 15,297 calBP and 14,246 calBP.
These results suggest that images may contain elements created at very different times. A mask may not be the work of a single artist from a single visit, but may preserve multiple episodes of artistic activity separated by thousands of years.
That possibility provides a more layered picture of prehistoric cave art. Decorated caves are not necessarily completed in a single era. Some may have remained meaningful sites for later communities to revisit, modify, or reinterpret.
New tools for understanding prehistoric art
The research was led by scientists from the Laboratory of Instrument Development and Innovative Methodology for Cultural Supplies (Chimie ParisTech-PSL/CNRS/Ministère de la Culture). This study PNAS.
The study brought together experts from several French scientific and cultural institutions.
Contributors also included scientists from the Institute for Carbon-14 Measurement (CEA/CNRS/IRD/ASNR/Ministry of Culture), a national platform affiliated with the Institute for Climate and Environmental Sciences (CEA/CNRS/Université Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines). Researchers from the Laboratory of Prehistoric Humanities and Natural History (CNRS/MNHN/University Domitia Perpignan), the National Center for Monuments, and the French National Museum and Center for Restoration Research also participated.
By combining chemical imaging with sensitive radiocarbon measurements, the researchers developed a method that can be applied to other prehistoric figures previously thought to be undated.
More precise dates could help researchers determine which paintings were created at the same time, how artistic styles changed, and whether people returned to particular caves repeatedly over generations. That information may ultimately reveal more about the communities that created the images and the cultural significance these underground spaces have held over thousands of years.
