Cave paintings at Font-de-Gaume, Dordogne© Centre des monuments nationaux/Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France
Photo: Anne Maigret
VIS light photography of the selected panel at the “Carrefour” of the panels no. 13 and 14 composed of a reindeer and a horse as well as bison and possibly a deer, respectively, and the schematic Bison 15.
© Anne Maigret, C2RMF
From: Reiche, I., Coquinot, Y., Trosseau, A. et al. (2023)
From: Reiche, I., Coquinot, Y., Trosseau, A. et al. (2023)
For the first time, scientists have obtained direct radiocarbon dates for Palaeolithic paintings in the Grotte de Font-de-Gaume in what is now southwestern France. A black-line drawing of a bison was created between 13,461 and 13,162 calibrated years before present (cal BP), while two parts of a mask-like figure produced dates ranging from about 16,000 to 14,200 cal BP. In other words, people were producing accomplished works of art in France more than 3,000 years before even the upper limit of 10,000 years that young-Earth creationists commonly allow for the entire age of Earth.
Not that this evidence is likely to persuade many creationists to reconsider their beliefs, of course. Once a preferred conclusion has been declared infallible, any evidence that contradicts it can simply be dismissed as fraudulent, mistaken or somehow “wrong”. One stock evasion is the evidence-free suggestion that radioactive decay rates must once have been different. In the case of radiocarbon dating, even known variations in atmospheric carbon-14 are measured and incorporated into the calibration curves. But no amount of calibration can correct a chronology that is wrong by design.
For anyone more interested in discovering the truth than in finding excuses to protect a preordained conclusion, however, these paintings are fascinating glimpses into how members of our species perceived the world around them, with its bison, horses, cave lions, mammoths and other Ice Age animals. Having visited the Grotte du Pech Merle in the Lot and the Lascaux II faithful reproduction of the famous Lascaux cave in the Dordogne, I can testify to the breathtaking magnificence of these monumental works.
Their purpose can only be surmised. They may have formed part of rituals intended to influence or appropriate the power of the animals; they may have recorded stories, conveyed knowledge or helped to instruct younger members of the group. None of these interpretations can yet be demonstrated conclusively. A controversial paper published in 1998 compared certain features of Upper Palaeolithic cave art with drawings made by a young autistic child with exceptional artistic ability. It did not, however, establish that any particular Palaeolithic artist was autistic.
During my visit to Pech Merle, our guide suggested that one of the great animal friezes might have been drawn in a matter of hours by a single artist, using bold, confident lines in black pigment. That interpretation may remain speculative, but the powers of observation, memory and control evident in those sweeping lines are unmistakable.
The new dating study was carried out on paintings in the Grotte de Font-de-Gaume, near Les Eyzies in the Dordogne, by an interdisciplinary research team led by CNRS researcher Ina Reiche. Direct radiocarbon dating had previously been considered impossible because the black pigments used at Font-de-Gaume, Lascaux and other decorated caves in the region were assumed to consist solely of iron and manganese oxides, which contain no carbon. However, the absence of carbon had never actually been demonstrated.
Using non-invasive Raman microspectrometry and hyperspectral imaging, the researchers examined black-line drawings of a bison and a figure interpreted as a human or animal face, or “mask”. These techniques revealed that charcoal was distributed uniformly throughout the black lines, rather than occurring only in isolated patches, helping to rule out contamination from graffiti or tourist activity.
Exceptionally authorised microsamples were then removed for accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating. The bison produced a calibrated date of 13,461–13,162 cal BP. The mask proved more complicated: charcoal from its upper lip dated to 15,981–15,121 cal BP and that from its lower lip to 15,297–14,246 cal BP, while its left eye produced a much younger date of 8,993–8,590 cal BP. The two lip dates confirm a Palaeolithic origin, but the researchers cannot yet determine whether the younger eye resulted from deliberate later retouching, accidental contamination or more recent graffiti.
Here, “cal BP” means calibrated years before 1950, the conventional “present” used in radiocarbon dating. The calibration takes account of known changes in atmospheric carbon-14 caused by factors including solar activity and variations in Earth’s magnetic field.
The findings were published online on 9 March 2026 in an open-access paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Besides providing the first direct dates for paintings at Font-de-Gaume, the method could allow other charcoal-containing cave paintings in the Dordogne to be dated much more accurately.
Important Cave-Art Sites in Southwestern France. Southwestern France contains one of the world’s greatest concentrations of Palaeolithic cave art. The dates below are approximate calendar ages before the present. Where possible, they are calibrated radiocarbon dates; where the pigments cannot be dated directly, the estimates are based on associated archaeological remains, superimposition and artistic style.The paper was accompanied by a brief press release from the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS):
- Cougnac, Lot — approximately 30,000–17,000 years ago.
Direct radiocarbon measurements indicate that the cave was decorated during at least two widely separated phases. Its paintings include mammoths, ibex, giant deer and rare human figures apparently pierced by projectiles.
- Font-de-Gaume, Dordogne — approximately 16,000–13,000 cal BP for the securely Palaeolithic samples.
The newly obtained direct dates place the two lips of a mask-like figure between 15,981 and 14,246 cal BP and a charcoal bison between 13,461 and 13,162 cal BP. A much younger date of 8,993–8,590 cal BP from the mask’s eye may represent retouching, contamination or graffiti.
- Gargas, Hautes-Pyrénées — broadly 29,000–22,000 years ago.
Best known for more than 200 negative hand stencils, many apparently missing one or more fingers, as well as painted and engraved animals. The art is generally attributed to the Gravettian period, although the hand stencils themselves have not been dated directly.
- Lascaux, Dordogne — approximately 21,500–21,000 cal BP.
Its spectacular polychrome paintings include aurochs, horses, deer, bison and the enigmatic human-and-bird scene. The currently preferred age is based mainly on dated objects and occupation evidence from the cave floor, because most of its mineral pigments cannot be dated directly.
- Marsoulas, Haute-Garonne — approximately 18,400–17,600 cal BP.
This early Magdalenian cave contains more than 600 paintings and engravings, including bison, horses, human-like figures and geometric signs. The dates come principally from archaeological levels associated with the decorated cave rather than from the pigments themselves.
- Niaux, Ariège — approximately 16,000 years ago.
The Salon Noir contains remarkably well-preserved black drawings of bison, horses, ibex and deer. Charcoal from individual bison figures has been dated directly by accelerator mass spectrometry, confirming their Magdalenian age.
- Pech Merle, Lot — approximately 29,000 years ago for the famous Spotted Horses.
The celebrated horses, surrounded by dots and negative hand stencils, have been dated directly through charcoal in the pigment. Other parts of the cave, including mammoths, bison, aurochs, human figures and the Black Frieze, appear to have been created during several different periods.
- Rouffignac, Dordogne — approximately 17,000 years ago.
Known as the “Cave of a Hundred Mammoths”, it contains more than 250 drawings and engravings, including about 160 mammoths. The art has not been dated directly; its age is inferred chiefly from its Middle Magdalenian style.
- Les Trois-Frères, Ariège — broadly Magdalenian, approximately 17,000–12,000 years ago.
This cave is famous for hundreds of engravings and the painted and engraved figure traditionally known as the “Sorcerer”. No direct date has yet been obtained, and the cave’s custodians acknowledge that some figures may be older than the predominantly Magdalenian artwork.
Note: cal BP means calibrated years before 1950, the conventional “present” used in radiocarbon dating. A decorated cave should not be treated as a single event: people sometimes returned to the same cave and added to, altered or painted over earlier images thousands of years later.
First absolute dating of Palaeolithic paintings in the Dordogne
A research team led by a CNRS1 researcher has for the first time accurately determined the age of the cave paintings at Font-de-Gaume (Les Eyzies) in Dordogne (southwestern France), according to work published on 9 March 2026 in PNAS.
It had previously been impossible to precisely date the Palaeolithic cave art in the region, including that in Lascaux, using radiocarbon dating, as the paintings were believed to contain only iron and manganese oxides. However, no study had ever confirmed the absence of carbon.
To carry out this verification, the scientists examined the chemical composition of two black drawings, depicting a bison and a mask, using Raman microspectrometry and hyperspectral imaging2. These non-invasive methods revealed traces of charcoal in the black pigments. The uniform presence of charcoal throughout the black lines in the figures ruled out the possibility of contamination from graffiti or tourist activity in the cave. Collecting micro-samples was authorised on an exceptional basis for carbon 14 dating. Although this dating is challenging given the tiny amount of material, analyses confirmed a date in the Upper Palaeolithic, slightly more recent than previously estimated: the bison was painted between 13,461 and 13,162 calBP3, while different parts of the mask were painted between 8,993 and 8,590 calBP, 15,981 and 15,121 calBP, and between 15,297 and 14,246 calBP.
Thanks to this new analytical methodology, the scientists hope to obtain accurate dating for other Palaeolithic figures, paving the way for a better understanding of cave art and the populations who created it.
Hyperspectral image obtained by reflectance imaging spectroscopy (RIS) of the Carrefour sign showing a visual contrast between the representations made with carbon black (in red, Cervidé HB14 and Bison HB15) and those made with black manganese oxides (in green, Bison HB14). [Google Translate from French]
© TU Delft, Matthias Alfeld.
Publication:
These new dates do more than attach calendar ages to a few ancient drawings. They confirm that the decorated caves of southwestern France preserve evidence of repeated human activity extending across many thousands of years. Different generations entered these caves, added new figures, altered earlier ones and left behind charcoal, pigments, tools, footprints and other traces that can still be placed in their correct archaeological sequence.
The physical survival of this evidence presents yet another insurmountable problem for young-Earth creationism. These paintings were not protected inside watertight vaults. They were applied to the walls of fractured, porous limestone caves through which water can seep and groundwater can circulate. A global flood powerful enough to submerge continents and cover mountains could not have passed through these karst landscapes without saturating the rock, forcing sediment-laden water through fissures and galleries, scouring exposed surfaces, rearranging cave floors and leaving substantial deposits of silt, sand and debris.
Yet there is no universal flood layer interrupting the archaeological record, no worldwide horizon of scoured cave walls and no evidence that the caves were emptied and subsequently repopulated by the descendants of eight related survivors from the Middle East. Instead, individual caves preserve their own local histories of visitation and artistic activity, with some images separated from others by thousands of years. Even delicate charcoal lines, hand stencils, footprints and successive layers of pigment remain in place.
Creationists are therefore obliged to imagine a flood violent enough to drown almost every living thing on Earth and rearrange its geology, yet considerate enough to flow through porous limestone caves without disturbing fragile charcoal drawings or leaving a recognisable deposit. That is not an explanation; it is special pleading demanded by a story that the evidence flatly contradicts.
The paintings survived because the biblical global flood never happened. Its only sedimentary trace is the ink on the pages of Genesis.
Advertisement
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
Amazon
All titles available in paperback, hardcover, ebook for Kindle and audio format.
Prices correct at time of publication. for current prices.
No comments :
Post a Comment
Obscene, threatening or obnoxious messages, preaching, abuse and spam will be removed, as will anything by known Internet trolls and stalkers, by known sock-puppet accounts and anything not connected with the post,
A claim made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. Remember: your opinion is not an established fact unless corroborated.