Cave Art By Cave Pre-Schoolers

[Ralph E. Powers]

Was shown this on a different forum and thought it needed to be shared here. Apologies if someone has already beaten me to it.

(CNN) -- Prehistoric children as young as three were encouraged by adults to make cave art 13,000 years ago, new research shows.

The Cambridge University study sheds new light on the lives of children and the ancient art they made during the prehistoric hunter gatherer period in the French caverns at Rouffignac, known as the Cave of a Hundred Mammoths.

While the caverns are famous for their striking drawings of woolly mammoths, bison and horses, the research focused on the thousands of lines made by people running their fingers along the soft clay walls throughout the five mile cavern complex.

Cambridge archaeologists were able to identify the age and gender of the children who made the simple ancient art form known as "finger fluting" by measuring the width of the flutings and the profile of the middle three fingers.

"We have found marks by children aged between three and seven years old -- and we have been able to identify four individual children by matching up their marks," said Cambridge University archaeologist Jess Cooney.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/30/world/eur ... +Recent%29

Even the little cave-kids got to leave their marks on the walls. Guess they gotta learn how to read/write somehow.