MALAGA, Spain– Latest discovery of cave paintings in the caves of Nerja are believed to be the earliest paintings ever made by humans so far. From a trained eye’s perception, they resemble images of seals. 
A sample of the charcoal remains near the paintings was sent to Miami, Florida for carbon dating and the results astonished the scientist. These paintings date between 42,300 to 43,500 years old making them the oldest painting found so far. They were located 56 kilometers east of Malaga. These are probably the only known paintings we know that the Neanderthals ever made. Professor Jose Luis Sanchidrian of the University of Cordoba led the testing of the charcoal specimen that was carbon dated. Their next step is to test the residue from the paintings themselves but they still need more funding for the confirmation of the exact date of the paintings.
Before, archaeologists and scientists thought the oldest paintings were from the modern man during the Aurignacian era. They found wall paintings in the caves of Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc which was featured in Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams. They date back as far as 35,000 to 40,000 years ago which are about 10,000 years younger than the latest find in the Nerja Caves.
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