Researchers in Spain reported that hunter-gatherer societies on the Iberian Peninsula were making sophisticated baskets with decorative geometric patterns as early as 9,500 years ago, more than 2,000 years earlier than previously thought.
The researchers also said sandals found in the same cave as the baskets represent the “earliest and most diverse plant-based footwear documented in European prehistory.”
Francisco Martínez-Sevilla, a prehistory researcher at the University of Alcalá and lead author of a paper outlining the findings published this week in Science Advances, said carbon-14 dating tests were carried out on 76 objects found by 19th-century miners .Century in the Cueva de los Murciélagos, a cave in southern Spain.
The objects, including the oldest pair of sandals in Europe, a wooden stick and club, and exquisitely crafted baskets made from reeds and esparto, were previously thought to have been made by Neolithic farmers.
But those of Dr. Carbon-14 tests conducted by Martinez-Sevilla’s research group, which recently excavated human remains in the cave, showed that the best-preserved baskets were actually made by hunter-gatherer communities in the Mesolithic. 9,500 years ago. Some show signs of sophisticated craftsmanship with decorative, colored geometric patterns and were previously attributed to the Neolithic period, more than 2,000 years later.
“My first reaction was, ‘Oh my God, that’s not possible,'” said Dr. Martinez-Sevilla said in a telephone interview that the discovery suggests that Mesolithic societies may have been more complex than previously thought. “Once we realized the magnitude of the results, we published the paper with the entire analysis in less than a year.”
In a statement about the results, Dr. Martínez-Sevilla added: “The quality and technological complexity of basket weaving allows us to question simplistic assumptions about human communities before the arrival of agriculture in southern Europe.”
The entrance to the Cueva de los Murciélagos is hidden in a rock face. Source: Francisco Martínez-Sevilla
Katina Lillios, an anthropological archaeologist at the University of Iowa who was not involved in the study, said the research “expands our understanding of the foraging technologies used by peoples at the time.”
“It is also very important to be able to track changes in the form and techniques of plant-based technologies over time, especially given that plant artifacts are rarely preserved,” Professor Lillios said in an email.
The study found that the items found in the cave had been preserved for thousands of years because there was no humidity in the area and the wind circulated inside, keeping the cave cool and dry and preventing the spread of bacteria.
“The preservation at the Cueva de los Murciélagos site is truly remarkable,” said Professor Lillios, “and it is great to see that archaeologists have been able to date a wider range of the plant artefacts found there.”
When examining artifacts from the Cueva de los Murciélagos, meaning “Cave of the Bats,” human hair was discovered embedded in the fibers of Mesolithic baskets. “No hair has ever been found from this period,” said Dr. Martinez-Seville.
The study found that the items found in the cave were preserved due to a lack of moisture combined with the wind circulating inside, which kept the cave cool and dry and prevented the spread of bacteria. Photo credit: Blas Ramos Rodriguez
Dr. Martínez-Sevilla’s group now hopes to conduct carbon-14 tests on the human remains unearthed in the cave, some of which may also date back to the Mesolithic period.
Ruth Maícas Ramos, curator at the National Museum of Archeology in Madrid, which houses much of the collection, and author of the article published this week, pointed out that Manuel de Gongora, a pioneering 19th-century archaeologist, shared his insights into the discovery of the Miners published in 1868, “no one at the time believed they were so old” because they were so well preserved and made with materials and weaving techniques still in use.
In fact, added Ms. Maícas Ramos, “the sandals are not dissimilar to modern espadrilles.”
Michael Levenson contributed reporting.