Anthropology

Judi Lynn

(162,377 posts) Sun Jan 26, 2020, 07:06 AM Jan 2020

Ancient Cave Filled With 10,000-Year-Old Cave Paintings Accidentally Discovered By Egyptologists In

Ancient Cave Filled With 10,000-Year-Old Cave Paintings Accidentally Discovered By Egyptologists In Sinai
By Madison Dapcevich
25 JAN 2020 00:13

A newly discovered cave in Sinai, Egypt, is the first of its kind in the region to be found decorated from floor to ceiling with colorful ancient paintings – and it was all by chance.

Egyptologists with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Arab Republic of Egypt discovered the cave in a region located 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the city St. Catherine and 60 kilometers (38 miles) southeast from Sarabit el-Khadem, an ancient Egyptian city famous for its turquoise mines. The sandstone cave is located in a difficult-to-access area, measuring about 3 meters deep (9.8 feet) by 3.5 meters wide (11.5 feet), said Dr. Mustafa Ministers, Secretary-General of the High Council of Antiquities in a Facebook post.

Dark red paintings of animals, including donkeys and mules, on the roof are considered the oldest, tracing back to between 5,500 and 10,000 BCE. The bodies of the animals from this era are consistent throughout the cave – five of the same animals are seen on the roof at the entrance of the shelter, as well as a set of human prints on the ceiling and on a rock at the center of the cave.

The second group of paintings is characterized by paintings that appear to be women and animals during the Chalcolithic Period, or Copper Age, the era between the Neolithic and Bronze Ages characterized as a transition between stone-tool use to metal-working.

More:
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/ancient-cave-filled-with-10000yearold-cave-paintings-accidentally-discovered-by-egyptologists-in-sinai/

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Ancient Cave Filled With 10,000-Year-Old Cave Paintings Accidentally Discovered By Egyptologists In (Original Post) Judi Lynn Jan 2020 OP

This is the thought that crossed my mind: Baitball Blogger Jan 2020 #1

I'd bet that you are right and that it happens pretty often. wnylib Jan 2020 #3

My favorite proper credit story is the Baitball Blogger Jan 2020 #5

I haven't heard about that. wnylib Jan 2020 #6

Here's a few links. Apparently it happened more than once in difference countries. Baitball Blogger Jan 2020 #7

Fascinating. Thanks. wnylib Jan 2020 #8

I love stories like this! femmocrat Jan 2020 #2

So do I. Looks like a lot of stone age people wnylib Jan 2020 #4

Baitball Blogger

(48,034 posts)

1. This is the thought that crossed my mind:

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Sun Jan 26, 2020, 09:23 AM

Jan 2020

How many local goat herders actually know about these places, but once they show it to a scientific team, the scientific team gets all the credit for the discovery?

wnylib

(24,389 posts)

3. I'd bet that you are right and that it happens pretty often.

Reply to Baitball Blogger (Reply #1)

Sun Jan 26, 2020, 03:49 PM

Jan 2020

Locals know of the sites and know that they are old. But they don't know how old or anything else about the sites. So, the scientists deserve some credit for testing and analysis.

In the case of various ancient scrolls, including the Dead Sea scrolls and others, there are so many cliff caves in the region that the locals don't know all of them or which ones might contain ancient texts. Scientists find out about them when locals discover them and tell someone.