DAMAGE TO ROCK ART FROM POWER PLANT POLLUTION EMISSIONS:

Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Photograph from newsartnet.com.

From 2020 to 2026 a study was conducted at a location known as Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. This fascinating study was an attempt to discern what, if any, damage to rock art was inflicted by the air pollution emitted from power plants and industrial enterprises.

Petroglyph at Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Photograph from newsartnet.com.

Amy Stevens (2026) has written about the area and the importance of the abundant rock art found there, frequently citing K. A. Evans (2026). “Murujuga is a sacred cultural landscape of land and sea Country across the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago, in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. It contains an estimated 1 million to 2 million petroglyphs, or rock engravings, that tell the story of the relationship between Ngarda-Ngarli Traditional Owners and this landscape over at least 50,000 years. These petroglyphs hold deep meaning for Ngarda-Ngarli, embodying cultural, spiritual, ancestral and environmental knowledge.” (Stevens 2026)

Petroglyph at Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. 1970 Photograph from newsartnet.com (red arrows show details).

“In July 2025, the Murujuga Cultural Landscape was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in recognition of its outstanding cultural and spiritual significance. This brought renewed attention to Murujuga, “commodities such as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Concerns have been raised that industrial pollution is degrading the rock art.” (Stevens 2026) As it is a site in the UNESCO World Heritage List, there is an international recognition of its importance to all people, and degradation of the rock art is then a concert to all people.

Same petroglyph at Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. 1970 Photograph from newsartnet.com showing missing details.

Indeed, this has been a concern for over a decade. A 2017 paper by John Black studied the color changes that the pollution might cause in the patina of the rock art panels, and did conclude that there was destruction beginning to show. “The art is under threat due to high concentration sof acidic and nitrate-rich pollution from nearby industrial complexes. Maintenance of the outer, rock or desert varnish, layer of therocks is essential for preservation of the art. An increase in acidity of rock surfaces through acid rain and organic acids from nitrate-stimulated microbial growth may alter the mineral composition, integrity and color of the rock varnish. This paper describes analyses of distilled water washings from rocks on Burrup Peninsula compared with rocks collected prior to industrialization. Acidity of rock surfaces has increased from near neutral to a pH just above 4. The increasing acidity has been associated with a logarithmic increase in solubilization of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) compounds from the rock surfaces. A theoretical evaluation using electrochemical equilibrium principles confirms that increasing acidity will increase the solubilization of Mn and Fe compounds. Removal of darker Mn and Fe mixed M(II)/M(III) compounds from the outer, rock varnish layer and the relative increase in ferrous oxide and illite/kaolin compounds will result in the rock surface layers becoming thinner, lighter, redder and more white/yellow over time. The impact on engraved surfaces would be expected to be greater because the rock varnish is thinner than on the non-engraved surface rock. Pollution from industry on Burrup Peninsula is likely to destroy the rock art over time.” (Black et al 2017) In other words, Black et al found that aerial pollution was degrading the patina on the rock surfaces, especially within the petroglyphs themselves.

Petroglyph at Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. 1974 Photograph from newsartnet.co.

Stevens (2026) reported on the third annual report of this monitoring program. In her article K. A. Evans stated “today we released the third annual peer-reviewed report of the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP). This government-funded research effort doesn’t resolve every question – understanding a system as complex as Murujuga takes time. The research is undertaken by a team of more than 30 multidisciplinary researchers, and independently peer reviewed by a range of international experts. It is solely written by the researchers.” (Stevens 2026)

Same petroglyph at Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. 2021 Photograph from newsartnet.com (red arrows show damage to the stone).

Stevens (2026) quoted from Evans report that “Earlier monitoring pointed to nitrogen dioxide, the most abundant air pollutant gas at Murujuga, as a possible cause. But our data at the time couldn’t clearly separate its effects from other air-borne pollutants, particularly sulfur dioxide.” (Stevens 2026)

Petroglyph at Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. 1988 Photograph from newsartnet.co.

Evans (2026) stated “This year’s results change that and the acid rain it can produce, as the most relevant factor. The chemistry behind this is well understood: sulfur dioxide reacts in the atmosphere or on the rock surface to form sulfuric acid. This can dissolve the manganese and iron oxide minerals that give the rock varnish its dark color, to create porosity. Several lines of evidence – atmospheric chemistry, rainfall pH and laboratory testing – now point to historic levels of sulphur dioxide from a range of industry and shipping.” (Evans 2026) Known as acid rain this will degrade the patina as well as the rock surface.

Same petroglyph at Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. 2021 Photograph from newsartnet.co.

“Rock, rainfall, and dry deposition pH values argue against present-day acidification of rock surfaces and historically high rates of patina dissolution. However, the elevated porosity values proximal to heavy industry require explanation. Any such explanation must be placed in the context of this ancient landscape. The rocks of Murujuga weathered sub-aerially for thousands to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, prior to the introduction of heavy industry from the 1960s onwards. As heavy industry evolved, the fluxes and composition of emitted gases changed. This extended history complicates attribution of the elevated porosity to any specific time or emissions source. Porosity would have formed naturally over the weathering history of the rock. However, elevated porosity within the weathered rind is observed proximal to Dampier, within a region spatially coincident with current elevated concentrations of NO². This association suggests a link between emissions and the elevated porosity. Both NOx, which include NO², and SOx which include SO², are considered reactive gases, which means that they react in the atmosphere to form nitric and sulfuric acids, which can increase the rate of rock weathering.” (Evans 2026)

Petroglyph at Murujuga, on the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.  Photograph from newsartnet.com.

“Damage to landscapes such as Murujuga rarely have a single cause. We’re tracking how many factors interact, sometimes over decades. The fourth and final year of this research will focus on the interplay of air quality, rock surfaces and microbial communities. We will also complete the environmental criteria to protect Murujuga in the long term, with a focus on ammonia and ozone, in addition to sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. However, ongoing monitoring will continue to ensure the protection of the rock art.” (Stevens 2026) This damage has accumulated over time, and perhaps will hopefully be prevented in the future. This is, however, not the only site by any means where rock art has been damaged by industrial pollution. Indeed, using the findings of both the 2017 study (Black et al.) and the 2026 study (Evans et al.) these processes are constantly at work at many rock art sites, if not all.

Hayden coal generating station, Hayden, Colorado. Photograph by cpr.com.

One site that I know well, here in Colorado, is not far from the Hayden Power Plant in Hayden, Colorado. This is a 465 megawatt coal generating station operated by Xcel Energy Company. This is quite near the Hayden pictograph site which is found along Highway 40. As the photographs show, the rock face here is extremely degraded.

Pictograph panel near Hayden power station showing degraded condition. Photograph Peter Faris, 1982.

Equestrian figure from the left side of the pictograph panel near Hayden power station showing degraded condition. Photograph Peter Faris, 1982.

This damage is not just from the shotgun pellets scattered all over the equestrian on the left (seen as faint white spots). The coal plant emissions cannot be doing this rock art panel any good. Wouldn’t it be a lovely surprise to find something happening to rock art that is good for its preservations?

REFERENCE:

Black, John L. et al., 2017, Theoretical effects of industrial emissions on color change at rock art sites on the Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 12, 457-462. Accessed online on 29 August 2026.

Evans, K. A. et al., 2026, Impacts of industrial emissions on rock art at Murujuga, Western Australia, Scientific Reports (2026) 16:13805. Accessed online on 29 August 2026.

Stevens, Amy, 2026, Historic sulfur emissions the likely cause of damage to Murujuga rock art: new research, 25 August 2026, https://theconversation.com. Accessed online on 26 August 2026.

 

ORGANIZING PATTERNS IN CAVE PAINTING?

Horse, bison and reindeer, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

From the discovery of the painted caves of Europe (and the eventual acceptance of their authenticity) people have been trying to reason out a meaning for these images. Of course, one of the first theories posited to explain them was hunting magic, the idea that creating the image of a game animal would improve one’s chances of success in the hunt. Another way of looking at this art was to attempt organizational analysis, what would be called ‘design’ in art history.

In ‘The Hunters of Prehistory’, in 1989, Andre Leroi-Gourhan wrote “it is certain that the men of the Upper Paleolithic had a highly developed system of beliefs, expressed in symbolic images related to the world of hunting. It was long believed that the animals represented prey, whose portrait was ‘killed’, and so, by magic, the animal itself. The detailed study of some one hundred ornamented caves in France and Spain revealed that, although the caves don’t follow the rules of modern composition and perspective, the positions of the images could not be explained solely by chance.” (Leroi-Gourhan 1989:137-138)

Horses and bison, Ekain, Spain. Image from Leroi-Gourhan, 1989, page 139. Image clarified by chatGPT.

When interest turned to the design of the painted panels (their patterning) relationships between various species have been posited and expressed. “The list of animals represented on walls is shorter than for those depicted on bone artifacts. On walls horse-bison plus ibex is the most widely distributed assemblage. Horse and bison (or auroch) make up the basic formula, but examples of just these two species are rare. In ond case, the figures are located face to face on two walls.” (Leroi-Gourhan 1989:140) So here is posited a relationship between animal imagery that leads to design decisions on placement.

Horse, auroch, lion and reindeer, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

Other species are assigned places in these assumed relationships as well. “The most dangerous animals – bear, large felines and rhinoceros – have positions at the edge of the engraved panels (Les Trois-Freres), in the grouping farthest away from the entrance (Lascaux), or simply at the end of the grouping (Labastide).” (Leroi-Gourhan 1989:140) In this he is leaning on a much shakier assumption, indeed, perhaps the bear, large feline and rhinoceros are the important groupings, and the other animals grouped somewhere away from them.

What seems to have been missing in these analyses is any indication of the painting style of individual animals. In some cases the hand of the artist is recognizable in a group of animals, but in other instances animals in close proximity may have been done by different hands at different times. This would make it somewhat harder to state a certain relationship between animals. Different minds and different artists may not see the supposed rules quite the same way. In other words, I might paint the bison here just because I want the bison here, irrespective of other animals in its vicinity.

Horses, aurochs, and reindeer, Lascaux Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

A new study, and statistical analysis, of painted caves in France, Spain, and Italy has come out with conclusions that re-open the arguments about intentional groupings of painted subjects.

“Taken together, the network-based results support the existence of an underlying organizational grammar governing the combination and distribution of themes in Magdalenian cave art. This structure operates at multiple, interrelated levels: through recurrent thematic associations within panels; through hierarchical differentiation, whereby certain motifs occupy structurally central positions; and through spatial patterning, expressed in the uneven distribution and reiteration of motifs across compositional units. Within this framework, large herbivores—particularly bison, horse, and ibex—emerge as key organizing themes, while other motifs appear to fulfill more contextual or articulatory roles.” (Intxaurbe 2026)

“These findings are consistent with long-standing structural interpretations of Upper Paleolithic parietal art and extend them by demonstrating their statistical robustness within an expanded, systematically documented, and partly unpublished corpus. The minimum spanning tree analysis further refines this picture by identifying bison as the primary structuring node of the thematic hierarchy. This configuration closely matches patterns previously described for both Cantabrian and Pyrenean contexts and gains particular significance in the Basque region, which occupies an intermediate geographical and cultural position between these areas. However, sensitivity analyses indicate that the precise hierarchical ordering may vary depending on the inclusion or exclusion of specific categories or assemblages, with ibex or horse occasionally occupying the most central position. This variability does not undermine the overall structure; rather, it suggests the existence of a stable triadic core—bison, horse, and ibex—whose internal ordering remains flexible. The recurrence of this triadic configuration across analytical variants supports the hypothesis of partially shared organizational principles operating within interconnected Magdalenian symbolic networks, while the shifting prominence of each element points to complementary rather than strictly hierarchical thematic roles.” (Intxaurbe 2026) This analysis has a renewed reference to Leroi-Gourhan’s bison, horse and ibex centrality.

Horses, aurochs, lion and reindeer, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

“Beyond these substantive results, this study highlights the methodological importance of grounding statistical analyses of Paleolithic art in empirically controlled and taphonomically assessed datasets. By integrating geoarcheological evaluation, detailed spatial documentation, and an open, reproducible computational workflow, the approach aims to minimize interpretative biases previously identified in the reuse of fragmentary or insufficiently contextualised corpora. At the same time, we deliberately refrain from advancing speculative interpretations concerning symbolic meaning or narrative content. While the analyses demonstrate structured organization and relational regularities, they do not—and cannot—provide direct access to the social meanings or underlying symbolic intentions.” (Intxaurbe 2026) The organizational and relational regularities mentioned may be as much an artifact of the viewer than the creator. ‘I will keep looking until I find what I want to see.’ So Intxaurbe may have covered more aspects of the subject than I am aware of. For instance, has he considered things like ratios of size of images to distances apart? Or, did he look at colors in his relational analysis?

Horses, aurochs and reindeer, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

With an admirable lack of hubris, Intxaurbe offers his work as a tool or an approach to aid others. He is not claiming to have solved everything.

“Rather than offering definitive interpretations, this work should be understood as a methodological contribution and an invitation to further comparative research. More broadly, the approach offers a formal tool for investigating the internal organization of symbolic systems and is therefore potentially relevant to adjacent fields such as epigraphy, paleography, or historical linguistics, where co-occurrence and combinatorial structure play a central role. The accumulation of comparable, well-documented datasets and the adoption of shared analytical frameworks represent the most promising path toward refining our understanding of Paleolithic graphic systems.” (Intxaurbe 2026) There is, indeed, much truth to this. There are great portions of the paper by Intxaurbe that are based upon mathematics and statistical analysis, and I confess that I cannot understand much of that. An education in traditional art history does not include any of these concepts. I point this out to say that he may cover certain aspects of this subject that my reading of his study did not give me insight to.

I will not argue with these findings because, to a certain extent, I can believe that this may be true for certain cave artists, at certain times and in a certain place. My objection is the old one that having found something that works in interpreting or analyzing an example of rock art it becomes the only explanation considered. I have also frequently referred to my skepticism about analyses proven by statistics, especially when the data has to be massaged to get to the end result sought for – ‘I want to find this so I will keep massaging the data until I do.’ This is, to me, analogous to Laurenty Beria’s answer to Joseph Stalin, “show me the person and I will find the crime.”

Horses, aurochs, reindeer and rhinoceros, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

As someone who has studied art history for sixty years I am just unable to accept any ‘one answer fits all’ theory. I see no reason not to assume that one artist painted a horse on the cave wall, and fifteen years later another artist wanted to paint a bison and found a convenient spot. In such a case it would be hard for me to agree that they are there in a mutual relationship. Intxaurbe has, however, produced a piece of work that deserves serious consideration. Read his paper, and who knows, you may agree with him.

NOTE: Some images in this column were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on this you should read the original report listed below.

REFERENCES:

Intxaurbe, Iñaki, 2026, Mapping the Symbolic Structure of Palaeolithic Rock Art Using Co‑occurrence Network Analysis, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 33:4. doi:10.1007/s10816-026-09796-y. Accessed online 12 August 2026.

Leroi-Gourhan, Andre, 1989, The Hunters of Prehistory, translated byClaire Jacobson, Atheneum, New York.

CHINESE PICTOGRAPH PAINT CONTAINS HUMAN BLOOD:

Zuojiang Hashan pictographs. Internet image, public domain (photograph sharpened with chatGPT).

How well a painted image will last on a cliff or boulder depends upon a number of factors. One factor, of course, is the kind of rock it is painted on, how hard or how soft? Another factor is the weather itself and the sites exposure to it. Is it directly in the Sun’s fading rays, is it in a location that is hit by rain, etc.? Another, and perhaps most important, factor is the composition of the paint itself. Is the pigment durable or fugitive? How thoroughly does the binder in the paint harden and hold on to the rock surface?

Zuojiang Hashan pictographs. Image, science.org.

The images painted in one section of China have long mystified scientists with their clarity and appartent durability. “The Zuojiang Huashan Rock  Art Cultural Landscape was created over the course of nearly 700 years, between the fifth century BCE and the second century CE, by the Luoyue people – a matriarchal, hunter-fisher-gatherer society that lived in southern China. The images are found across 80 sites along a 260-kilometer stretch of river cliffs. Given that the area is battered by regular monsoons, the art is remarkably intact, especially compared with murals made hundreds of years later in other parts of the country.” (Sagar 2026) Normally, frequent monsoon rains would be thought to doom painted images to quick destruction.

These painted images, however, act very different – they are exceedingly durable. “The pigments are so firmly bonded to the bedrock that when peeling occurs, it is the limestone layer itself that detaches along with the pigments,” says Meng Wu, a chemist at Shandong University.  “The material stability of this art has long been an unsolved mystery.” (Sagar 2026)

Zuojiang Hashan pictographs. Internet image, public domain.

“These paintings are bound to the rock so well that scientists had to use electric drills to scrape off samples for testing, which revealed that the paint contained lime, red clay, and blood from women who’d just given birth.” (Spitz 2026) The most surprising component of the paint used was blood, which came from both humans and animals. “The human portion contained two proteins that were linked to pregnancy, breastfeeding, and female reproductive biology. Therefore the team concluded that these proteins likely came from women who had very recently given birth, and that the blood came from routine postpartum bleeding.” (Spitz 2026) This is a likelihood, not a certainty, as the proteins in question are not totally unique to women and childbirth. Much of the durability of the red paint is due to the lime and red clay ingredients setting up in a reaction much like cement. Then, adding the proteins from blood, we can expect this to only enhance the durability of the paint.

As the Luoyue creators of this rock art are believed by historians to have been a matriarchal society, the use of postpartum blood in the paint may have had a deeply spiritual significance to the people. Therefore the act of creating the rock art may have also involved significant ritual contexts. At least that makes a great deal of sense.

NOTE: One image in this column was retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Sagar, Soumya, 2026, Were these ancient rock images painted with human blood?, 12 August 2026, https://www.science.org online. Accessed online 13 August 2026.

Spitz, Ella, 2026, Scientists Just Uncovered The Secret Behind The Durability Of China’s Ancient Huashan Rock Art: Human Blood, AllThatsInteresting.com, 29 July 2026, https://allthatsinteresting.com/china-huashan-rock-art-blood. Accessed 13 August 2026.

CARVED IVORY BIRDS FROM HOHLE FELS CAVE:

Hohle Fels ('hollow rock') cave. Internet image, public domain.

For many years excavations have been underway at theh caves of the Ach Valley of the Swabian Jura, near Schelkiingen in southwestern Germany. These sites, particularly the caves Hohle Fels and Geissenklosterle, have produced an amazing number of carved ivory, antler and bone figurines along with other artifacts.

Interior view of Hohle Fels ('hollow rock') cave. Internet image, public domain.

“The cave site of Hohle Fels was occupied during the Aurignacian period of prehistory (43,000 to 28,000 years before present), when early humans – thrived in Europe following the disappearance of the Neanderthals. These groups created an explosion of art, some of which had never been seen before in human history, including so-called Venus figurines, musical instruments, elaborate jewelry and cave paintings. Much of this art involved drawing and carving animals that the Aurignacian people would have seen on a day-to-day basis.” (Killgrove 2025)

Ivory sculpture of a water bird from Hohle Fels ('hollow rock') cave. Internet image, public domain.

Carved ivory figure from Hohle Fels cave ('Venus of Hohle Fals'). Internet image, public domain.

Sculptures recovered from Hohle Fels include a small bird assumed to represent a water bird, animal figurines, a therianthrope known as the Lion Man, a flute (made from a vulture’s femur) and the famous Hohle Fels Venus. “The Hohle Fels bird is not the oldest figurative sculpture in Europe. That title has been taken by another discovery from the same cave in 2008: the Venus of Hohle Fels, a sculpture of a woman with exaggerated breasts and thighs, which was created 41,000 years ago.” (Killgrove 2025) On 18 July 2026 I published an article on RockArtBlog with the title “CLAVIFORM, VENUS OR STEATOPYGIA?” which questioned the enlarged buttocks seen on Paleolithic Venus figures and in some rock art, suggesting that it might represent the phenomenon of steatopygia.

Vulture femur flute from Hohle Fels cave. Photograph from LiveScience.

Does this collection of work represent the beginning of figurative sculpture in Western civilization? Ewen Calloway suggest just that. “The entire collection of ivory carvings at Hohle Fels suggests that something very new was happening around 40,000 years ago in the south German mountains, as the people who created the Aurignacian culture invented types of figurative art and music akin to what we have today.” (Killgrove 2025)

These carvings strike the modern eye as extremely interesting, as if we have not changed that much in the period between their creation in the Aurignacian and now. “There’s something magical about these pieces,’ says Nicholas Conard, an archeologist at the University of Tubingen in Germany, who has led the excavation of Hohle Fels since the late 1990s. Conard argues that the artistic capabilities on display at Hohle Fels and nearby caves mark a shift in cognitive and cultural sophistication that might have helped these humans to flourish in ice-age Europe, when other groups vanished. He now hopes to test this theory by collecting ancient DNA from the Hohle Fels cave sediments.” (Callaway 2026) This would, at least, allow him to determine whether the carvings were made by modern humans, or our predecessors in Eutope.

Newly discovered ivory sculpture of birds from Hohle Fels ('hollow rock') cave. Photograph by Ralf Ehmann, Universitat Tubingen, sharpened with chatGPT.

Newly discovered ivory sculpture of a bird from Hohle Fels ('hollow rock') cave. Photograph by Ralf Ehmann, Universitat Tubingen, sharpened with chatGPT.

Newly discovered ivory sculpture of a bird from Hohle Fels ('hollow rock') cave. Photograph by Ralf Ehmann, Universitat Tubingen, sharpened with chatGPT.

Now, new discoveries at Hohle Fels have made the news. During the  2025 field season, Alexander Janas, an archeologist at the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment in Tubinge, Germany, discovered two more miniature bird carvings thought to resemble ptarmigans. “This week, Janas and his colleagues announced their latest treasures: a pair of tiny bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory, and vulture bone flute fragments, discovered during the 2025 field season. The artifacts were unveiled at the Museum of Prehistory and Ice Age Art in Blaubeuren, Germany, on 29 July.” (Callaway 2026) These two new birds are indeed tiny, measuring 2 – 3 cm. each.

And, as I said above, we immediately find these birds charming. They are cute. What else might be waiting to be discovered?

NOTE: Some images in this column were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below. Additionally, some of the quotations I have included have had citations removed from their text. These can also be acquired from the original texts.

REFERENCES:

Callaway, Ewen, 2026, 40,000-year-old birk carvings provide clues to how ice age humans flourished, 29 July 2026, Nature 655 (online), 1120-1122. Accessed online 29 July 2026.

Killgrove, Kristina, 2025, Hohle Fels water bird: The oldest depiction of a bird in the world, 31 March 2025, LiveScience (online), https://www.livescience.com. Accessed online 29 July 2026.

 

CROATIAN CAVE ART IS THE FIRST KNOWN IN THE BALKANS:

Romuald's Cave, Croatia. Internet image, public domain.

A recent discovery has provided “the first evidence for Upper Paleolithic figurative rock art from the Balkan region. These findings expand the geographic distribution of Upper Paleolithic rock art beyond the limits of Western Europe, contribute to filling the ‘rock art gap’ in an understudied research area and illuminate the geographic complexity of early symbolic behavior and its implications for understanding the Upper Paleolithic cultural mosaic.” (Ruiz-Redondo et al. 2019) The mystery has been that humans (and pre-humans) certainly lived there so where is the art that they decorated caves with farther north and west?

Bison, Romuald's Cave, Croatia. Photograph by Ruiz Redondo, figure 3, page 302.

Cave art was unknown in the Balkans and this project wanted to look into that. “The study’s author Aitor Ruiz-Redondo, and archeologist at the University of Southampton in the U.K., started looking for cave art in the region as part of a French-funded project. Ruiz-Redondo and his colleagues surveyed more than 60 prehistoric caves and rock shelters across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia; Romualdova Cave was one of just two sites that had clear evidence of Paleolithic rock art.” (Gannon 2019) Not only did they demonstrate admirable patience and tenacity, I find it interesting that their efforts are reportedly French-funded.

Photograph of the ibex, vertical lines, and triangular element by Ruiz Redondo, figure 4, page 303A.

Tracing of the ibex, vertical lines, and triangular element by Ruiz Redondo, figure 4, page 303B.

People lived there, people traveled there, so why had no art been discovered? “While these discoveries have significantly modified previous assumptions on the origins of art, important gaps remain in our understanding of Pleistocene symbolism. In particular, there are entire regions that have yielded very little evidence concerning the rock art of anatomically modern humans. The Balkan Peninsula represents one of these regions; no Upper Paleolithic rock art has been discovered in the area between the sites of Fumane in Italy and Coliboaia in Romania - a distance of approximately 1000km— with the exception of the non-figurative engravings at Badanj Cave in Bosnia-Herzegovina and a possible Paleolithic painting at Sela’cka 3 in Serbia. A number of hypotheses could explain this gap. It could be argued, for example, that while the Upper Paleolithic groups in this area created symbolic objects (including portable art and personal ornaments), they did not develop a rock art tradition. Moreover, geological and environmental conditions may explain the absence of rock art in Central and Eastern Europe.” (Ruiz-Redondo et al. 2019:298) All over the world ancient peoples had cave and rock art traditions, so it makes little sense to me to say that maybe “they did not develop a rock art tradition.”

The survey of Romuald's Cave turned up a total of 44 red-painted images divided into four panels, including two badly preserved anthropomorphs, one of which appears to have an erection. (Wikipedia)

One factor, of course, is that you do not usually find what you are not looking for. “In comparison to Western Europe, the lack of a well-established regional research tradition is an important factor in explaining the absence of Upper Paleolithic rock art sites in the area. This may explain, for instance, why fewer than 50 Upper Paleolithic sites have been discovered in the combined area of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro (approximately 210 000km2), whereas 235 sites have been documented in the French region of Dordogne alone - an area 23 times smaller (approximately 9000km2). The disparity in the number of rock art sites is surprising, as the Balkans were probably one of the main routes into Europe for anatomically modern humans. (Ruiz-Redondo et al. 2019:298) So why no more remaining art, humans leave traces behind everywhere they go?

Panel with anthropomorphs, Photograph by Ruiz Redondo, figure 5, page 304A. (image sharpened with chatGPT)

"Although the precise chronology of the Romualdova Pe’cina art remains unknown, its discovery represents a milestone among recent developments in the study of Paleolithic art. This cave contains the first evidence of figurative Upper Paleolithic rock art on the Balkan Peninsula. Hence, these paintings enlarge the geographic distribution of European rock art significantly, once again calling into question the traditional paradigm that assumes Upper Paleolithic cave art to be a Western European phenomenon. The discovery establishes the presence of figurative rock art in South-eastern Europe, illuminating the symbolic culture of Upper Paleolithic Balkan populations and the potential links between them and Western European groups. While this research modifies our perception of the Upper Paleolithic cultures that inhabited the Balkans, these advances constitute only a small step towards understanding the implications of the spread of Upper Paleolithic rock art, and the cultural links between Western Europe and the Balkan Peninsula.” (Ruiz-Redondo et al. 2019:310)  This discovery adds fuel to the old saying that every answer you find raises at least two new questions.

Panel with anthropomorphs, Tracing by Ruiz Redondo, figure 5, page 304B. (image sharpened with chatGPT)

“The presence of Paleolithic figurative art here raises several archaeological questions: could this art have originated independently, outside of Western Europe, or could it represent cultural diffusion from West to East? Do its particular features support the existence of close links with South-west European populations? Future research in the Balkans will contribute further information to address these questions. Additional research at Romualdova Pe’cina will be conducted to refine the chronology of the rock art and determine its chaîne operatoire. In the meantime, this discovery provides new data to reignite the debate about the spread of Upper Paleolithic parietal symbolism, and serves to emphasize the need for further archaeological exploration of long-neglected areas: the terra incognita of Paleolithic rock art.” (Ruiz-Redondo et al. 2019:310)

The author of the paper, Aitor Ruiz-Redondo who is associated with the University of Bordeaux and the University of Southampton, concluded “While this research modifies our perception of the Upper Paleolithic cultures that inhabited the Balkans, these advances constitute only a small step towards understanding the implications of the spread of Upper Paleolithic rock art, and the cultural links between Western Europe and the Balkan Peninsula. The presence of Paleolithic figurative art here raises several archaeological questions: could this art have originated independently, outside of Western Europe, or could it represent cultural diffusion from West to East? Do its particular features support the existence of close links with South-west European populations? Future research in the Balkans will contribute further information to address these questions.” (Ruiz-Redondo et al. 2019:310)

Discovery of new rock art is always of great interest, even more so in a region where it had been unknown before. We look forward with great interest to their future conclusions.

REFERENCES:

Gannon, Megan, 2019, The First Cave Art from the Balkans May Date Back 30,000 Years, 11 April 2019, LiveScience online, https://www.livescience.com/65209-cave-painting-discovered-croatia.html. Accessed online 27 July 2026.

Ruiz-Redondo, Aitor, 2019, Expanding the horizons of Paleolithic rock art: the site of Romualdova Pe’cina, Antiquity, 93, 386,  297-312. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.36. Accessed online at Academia.com on 28 July 2026.

Wikipedia, Rumuald’s Cave, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romuald's Cave. Accessed online 28 July 2026.

 

REDISCOVERED LATE UPPER PALEOLITHIC IMAGERY IN A CAVE IN BRITAIN:

 

Bacon Hole cave, Gower Peninsula, South Wales. Photograph from Nash et al., 2026, figure 2.

The oldest cave art in Britain has been essentially rediscovered in Bacon Hole cave, on Gower Peninsula in South Wales. First seen in 1912 by Henri Breuil and Professor William Sollas they were called the first Paleolithic cave art in Britain. This was, however, dismissed by skeptics and subsequently ignored and all but forgotten, until recently. The painted marks have been looked up again and reexamined by scientists (Arnold 2026). Records of the cave painting, however, still existed.

 

The first photograph of the panel, taken in 1913 by W.L. Morgan. From Nash et al., 2026, figure 6.

“Following the rediscovery of the painted panel in 2022, the First Art team, in collaboration with dating specialists from the University of Southhampton, conducted two expeditions to Bacon Hole in 2023 and 2024. Both visits were commissioned by the National Trust and scheduled outside the bat hibernation season (October to April). The primary aim of these visits was to create a photographic record of the wall sections within the eastern side chamber, focusing particularly on the area surrounding the painted panel.” (Nash et al. 2026) The painting was rediscovered in September 2022. The international team of scientists conducted pigment analysis looking for organic residues, and collected samples from calcite flows for Uranium-Thorium dating on a vertical painted surface within a side chamber. (Nash et al. 2026) It is, perhaps, of note that the investigation occurred outside of bat hibernation season. This may have been done out of consideration for the wildlife, but my guess would be that it was prompted by the range of viruses carried by bats.

 

The panel as photographed (left) and then processed with dStretch (right). From Nash et al., 2026, figure 9.

The teams did a quite complete job of studying and sampling the paint as well as the calcite layers on the cave wall. “In addition to the photographic survey, the painted surfaces originally discovered by Breuil and Sollas in 1912 were sampled to establish potential minimum and maximum date ranges. A total of twelve samples (six from each expedition) were collected. These included samples for both dating purposes (calcite overlapping pigments) and pigment geochemical analysis. The latter aimed to identify potential organic and inorganic binders using Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and Micro-Raman analysis.” (Nash et al. 2026)

 

The samples taken for Uranium-Thorium dating revealed a range of dates with the oldest being 15.7 ka (at a 95% confidence level). (Nash et al. 2026) Other dates came back from more recent eras, such as the Bronze Age.

Locations sampled on the panel. From Nash et al., 2026, figure 10.

The conclusions of the teams back up the original estimates by Breuil and Sollas. "Based on the evidence gathered from the two fieldwork visits, we concur with the original interpretation proposed by Breuil and Sollas in 1912 - that the horizontal lines (or streaks) represent anthropogenic activity. The painted lines are arranged horizontally and are equidistant from one another, indicating a deliberate and structured patternn. Furthermore, the hematite used to produce the ten lines likely derives from a single source, probably located at the rear of the side chamber" (Nash et al. 2026).

Bacon Hole also has a wide range of images, scribbles and initials from since the time of the original painting (see Nash et al. below).

REFERENCES:

Arnold, Paul, 2026, Britain’s oldest cave art may have been rediscovered in Bacon Hole cave, 2 June 2026, The Gist (Phys.org online). Accessed online 2 June 2026.

Nash, George H. et al., 2026, Rediscovered Late Upper Paleolithic Painted Imagery at Bacon Hole, Gower Peninsula, South Wales, Quaternary (online), Vol. 9, No. 3, 26 May 2026, https://doi.org/10.3390/quat9030043.  Accessed online 2 June 2026.