GRANADA, SPAIN—Analysis of two fingerprints found among rock art at Spain’s Los Machos rock shelter suggests that they were left by a man who was at least 36 years old and a girl between the ages of ten and 16, according to a report in The Art Newspaper. Men’s fingerprint ridges tend to be broader than women’s, and the distance between the ridges grows from childhood to adulthood, the researchers explained. The hand-painted strokes, circles, geometric motifs, and human figures in the cave are estimated to have been created between 4500 and 2000 B.C. Knowledge of who painted the images could help researchers understand their significance, explained Leonardo García Sanjuán of the University of Seville. But Margarita Diaz-Andreu of the University of Barcelona added that fingerprints may have been left by people who accompanied the artists. To read about Cherokee imagery found deep in caves in the American South, go to "Artists of the Dark Zone."
