Our species has always used caves as a warehouse or refuge, but what has just been discovered in France, inside a very deep cave, is profoundly changing our perception of the first Homo sapiens.
10,000 years ago, a group of our ancestors entered a system of caves – simply called “Caves of Saint Marcel” – particularly deep and still considered today by speleologists among the most difficult to cross without equipment.
Inhabited since the Paleolithic, these caves extend for 64 kilometers inside the earth’s crust and are covered with numerous stalactites and stalagmites, which are particularly sharp.
Today, to reach the tunnels most visited by tourists, you have to proceed for at least 3 hours, beyond the entrance, between sudden sharp bends, dripping water, powerful steps and slippery walls. However in the past, in the times of our ancestors, the only tools that could be used to reach such depths were torches and fire, which however were unusable if the flames licked the water. So how did our ancestors get miles into these caves?
Scientists don’t know, although the human presence in the depths of the Saint Marcel Caves has been ascertained through the discovery of some strange broken stalactites, whose fracture has been dated to 10,000 years ago and has been explained by our behavior.
“This raised the question of how our ancestors already knew the techniques needed to explore caves” clarified one of the authors of a study, Jean-Jacques Delannoyof the French National Center for Scientific Research. “A challenge in the face of our current knowledge.”
Scientists have no idea how these ancient A wise man managed to cross the cave for kilometers without getting lost, in complete darkness, but they are not even known the reasons who pushed them to do so, even though they believe that there was some desirable reason.
Furthermore, they have never been found inside the cave rock paintings or archaeological remains which may suggest a long stay inside, outside a chamber in which there are some rocks and fragments of stalagmites arranged in a circle.
“The results of our study are changing the way we look at the Saint-Marcel caves and invite us to take a new look at the most ancient human societies” the researchers clarified, although it will be very difficult for them to continue their research, in a really complex context to explore.
However, this is not the only important discovery that has involved anthropologists. They also recently discovered the cave that has the largest number of rock finds in the world.
About Bluetooth Headphones, Bluetooth 5.3 Wireless Earphones, 5-7 h per tr is one of today’s best sellers.