An international team of archaeologists from Germany and the UK has found works of art from the Paleolithic era, which are recognized as the world's oldest depictions of fishing. The age of the work was estimated at 15.8 thousand years.
The study was published in the scientific journal PLOS One.
The discovery was made at the Ice Age site of Gönnersdorf on the banks of the Rhine River in western Germany, not far from the Belgian border. Previously, a large number of engraved images of animals were discovered here, including wild horses, woolly rhinoceroses, reindeer and mammoths.
Scientists have found several rock paintings that depict recognizable silhouettes of fish surrounded by mesh patterns. According to experts, these details apparently depict fishing nets or traps.
It is known that fish was part of the diet of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. But until now there was no exact data on how exactly the ancient people fished.
Archaeologists discovered the fishing paintings using advanced imaging techniques, which revealed the signature features of the stone incisions and identified individual artists with their signature styles.
