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Scientists say that some of the prehistoric cave paintings are more than 40,000 years old - four or five thousand years older than anyone had believed before. (ABC)
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The Panel of Hands in El Castillo Cave near the village of Puente Viesgo is seen in this handout photo released June 14, 2012. REUTERS/Image courtesy of Pedro Saura/Handout
The Corredor de los Puntos in El Castillo Cave near the village of Puente Viesgo is seen in this handout photo released June 14, 2012. Scientists using a new dating technique reported June 14 that many of the most famous cave paintings in Spain are thousands of years older than previously thought - ancient enough to have been created not by Homo sapiens like ourselves but by Neanderthals, the species that lived in Europe long before the newcomers arrived from Africa. A hand stencil has been dated to earlier than 37,300 years ago and a red disk to earlier than 40,600 years ago, making them the oldest cave paintings in Europe. REUTERS/Image courtesy of Pedro Saura/Handout (SPAIN - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO ARCHIVES
This undated handout photo provided by pedro suara/aaas shows the 'Panel of Hands', El Castillo Cave showing red disks and hand stencils made by blowing or spitting paint onto the wall. A date from a disk shows the painting to be older than 40,800 years making it the oldest known cave art in Europe. The bison overlay the hands and are therefore painted later. New tests show that crude Spanish cave paintings of a red sphere and handprints are the oldest in the world, so ancient they may not have been by modern man. They might have even been made by the much-maligned Neanderthals, some scientists suggest but others disagree. (AP Photo/Pedro Saura, AAAS)
This undated handout photo provided by pedro suara/aaas shows detail of the 'Panel of Hands', El Castillo Cave showing red disks and hand stencils made by blowing or spitting paint onto the wall. A date from a disk shows the painting to be older than 40,800 years making it the oldest known cave art in Europe. The bison overlay the hands and are therefore painted later. New tests show that crude Spanish cave paintings of a red sphere and handprints are the oldest in the world, so ancient they may not have been by modern man. They might have even been made by the much-maligned Neanderthals, some scientists suggest but others disagree. (AP Photo/Pedro Saura, AAAS)
