Living in the modern world, we rarely think about how long people have inhabited the Earth. It all began millions of years ago, when the first hominids stood on their hind limbs and found out how to create primitive tools. The modern era with writing, cities and states is just a moment compared to the times when the few tribes of our ancestors migrated across the continents.
And they did not live in houses or shacks – there simply was no need to build them: the primitive tribes involved in gathering had to constantly migrate depending on seasonal changes. However, rare lucky people managed to find places where there was plenty of food all year round, and shelter was at hand. We are, of course, talking about caves – natural shelters that extend tens of meters deep into the rocks. Here they are – the most ancient prototypes of human settlements. At times, such caves could serve as homes for tribes for thousands of years. During this time, numerous traces left by ancient people accumulated in them, and some of them managed to survive to this day.
One of these caves is located in southern Argentina near the Puntaras River. Archaeologists believe that ancient people – the descendants of the South American Indians - inhabited it for tens of thousands of years. Throughout the world, this cave is known as the "Cave of Hands".
Фото: thevintagenews.com
Why did she get such a name, it becomes clear immediately at the entrance - the walls of the cave are strewn with imprints of people living in it. Our ancestors used natural dyes, which were sprayed on top of a propped palm using bone tubes. By the way, it was precisely from their remains that were found near one of the walls that scientists were able to discover the age of cave painting - 13,000-9,000 years.
If an adult man puts his palm on the prints of his distant ancestors, it will be surprising that their palms were much smaller. Is there such a big difference in physical development between the ancient man and the present? Actually, no - ancient people were physically more advanced than us, just most of these prints belong to adolescents. Most likely, leaving a picture of your palm on the wall of the cave was a kind of rite among the members of the tribe when young men and women entered a certain age.
Take a look at these prints. From an ancient stone, the hands of long dead people reach us. But this does not make us scared – the traces make us think about eternity, about how fleetingly one person’s life passes in the merciless passage of time.