More than 20 pairs of sandals have been found in an ancient cemetery in a cave in Spain, along with a variety of wooden equipment and some of the oldest preserved examples of basketry in Europe.
Humans have used plant-based fabrics to make tools, clothing, and other items for millennia, but their perishable nature has caused most of those ancient artifacts to decay over time. However, some decided to have sites around the world provide exclusive situations. necessary to maintain those biological artifacts, providing a glimpse into the lives and cultures of our ancient ancestors.
One such site is the Bat Cave in Albuñol, on the coast of Granada in Spain. The call literally translates to the cave of the bats and was first discovered in the early 1830s through a local landowner, who thought he had discovered gold. after finding the cavern full of guano. In the 1850s, miners descended on the site in search of lead. It was then that they discovered a hidden inner cavern filled with several partially mummified corpses and archaeological remains.
Nearly two centuries later, scientists have used fashion dating techniques to determine roughly when those items were made and who might have made them. Their findings were published in the journal Science Advances on Sept. 27.
“We studied the raw tissues and generation and dated with carbon-14, which indicates that the assemblage [of objects] dates to the early and middle Holocene, between 9,500 and 6,200 years ago,” the study’s lead author, Francisco Martinez-Sevilla of the University of Alcalá, told Newsweek.
“This is the first direct evidence of basketry made through Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies in southern Europe and an exclusive set of other biological equipment related to early Neolithic farming communities, such as sandals and a mace,” he said.
Previous studies had dated all the elements to the Neolithic era, also known as the New Stone Age, which lasted between 7,000 and 1,700 BC. This era was marked by a more sedentary human lifestyle, where other people learned to grow plants and animals for food rather than relying on hunting and gathering. However, this new study shows that some of the oldest artifacts, including the set of baskets, were likely made in the Mesolithic era or Middle Stone Age, centuries earlier.
“The new dating of baskets in Sparta from the Cueva de los Murciélagos de Albuñol opens a window of opportunity to the last hunter-gatherer societies of the early Holocene,” says Martínez-Sevilla.
“The quality and technological complexity of basketry leads us to question the simplistic assumptions we had about human communities before the arrival of agriculture in southern Europe. These paintings and the ongoing commission position the Bat Cave as an exclusive place in the world. Europe is going to examine the biological material of prehistoric populations. “
However, many questions remain about who made those items and whether they played a role in the ancient burial practices of the time. For example, some sandals showed apparent signs of wear and tear, while others gave the impression of never having been worn, suggesting that other people may have been buried in clothing expressly for the afterlife.
“It’s fair to say we have more questions than conclusions,” Martinez-Sevilla said. “We still have a lot to perceive about the use of the cave and the lifestyles of prehistoric human communities. “
Pandora Dewan is a science journalist for Newsweek based in London, UK. It focuses on reporting on science, health, and technology. Pandora joined Newsweek in 2022 and in the past worked as a content manager for weather education startup ClimateScience and as a freelancer for content creators such as Dr. Karan Rajan and Thoughty2. She has a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford. Languages: English.
You can tap Pandora by emailing p. dewan@newsweek. com on Twitter @dewanpandora.
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