This 8,000-Year-Old Cave Art Demonstrates Climate Change

Scientists used advanced methods to accurately date the paintings in Argentina’s Neuquén province and discovered the groups may have struggled to maintain high population numbers. 

Some paintings shed light on the activities of the era, such as hunting. Others, like those found at Cueva Huenul, have helped researchers better understand how people lived during arid climatic periods.

The cave has nearly 900 paintings spread across its interior walls, full of geometric patterns, animals, and hunters, which help shed light on what life was like for the region’s ancient inhabitants.

According to a report from Science Advances, the researchers were finally able to date the paintings by testing the charcoal used on the cave’s walls. 

According to their results, the paintings at Cueva Huenul were completed around 8,171 years ago.

Alongside the artwork, other items of interest were discovered, including shells, engraved gourds, and decorated animal bones.

What truly intrigued scientists, however, was the idea that this population group lived in the region during periods of an unpredictable climate.

The scientists say this has given them a better understanding of how ancient population groups lived during tougher climatic periods.

“In our rock art case, the [evidence] from the drylands in South America shows that during the early part of the Mid-Holocene, populations did not grow and may actually have decreased in size,” the researcher said.

According to their research, it was likely “periodic population crashes rather than long-term stability.”

“Additionally, since the sites from the mid-Holocene do not show very intense occupations, we presume that these small human groups had to move in wider areas,” Barberena said.

This may have forced a large-scale migration into new lands in hopes of ensuring the longevity of the group who had been forced to leave their ancestral lands behind.