João Zilhão

Universitat de Barcelona

Analysis of the splattered red pigment covering a large stalagmite dome in the Sala de las Estrellas of Ardales cave (Malaga, Spain) proved their anthropogenic nature, showed the mineral sources used must have been located outside the cave itself, and revealed variations in composition that correspond to the different ages as previously measured by U-Th dating, thereby corroborating the Neanderthals’ symbolic used of this underground space over an extended time span beginning >65,000 years ago.