mtgoat666 - 5-18-2023 at 07:27 PM
Carbon dating reveals famed Baja cave paintings to be much older than previously thought
New radio-carbon dating, however, dates them back to 11,000 years…
https://www.kpbs.org/news/midday-edition/2023/03/31/carbon-d...
Tacayo - 5-19-2023 at 10:44 AM
Very cool to read. That might explain why the Baja indigenous people claimed they didn't paint the caves, saying it was the work of
giants who came from the north according to contemporary reports (as I remember reading). David K, what's your take?
David K - 5-19-2023 at 01:42 PM
The age of the cave paintings has always been somewhat a mystery. Originally, thought to be a few hundred to a thousand years. Now, it seems they may
have been the art of the original tribes from the ice age with its lower sea levels, allowing the Asians to cross over to Alaska. 10,000 + years ago.
The art at the famous sites has been told to be from 5,000 to 7,500 years old... I suspect the guides will jump at the chance to double those
estimates.
4x4abc - 5-19-2023 at 03:40 PM
too much youtube bling and exaggeration in that piece by Craig K. Collins
the 14 hour drive to get to the destination
no town of consequence around for 400 miles
a 3,000 feet deep canyon
well, if you rarely leave San Diego Baja is indeed a far away place
I am counting a few towns in a 400 mile radius ( San Quintin, Guerrero Negro, Santa Rosalia, Loreto, Constitucion)
the cave paintings canyon is 1,700 deep (3,600 ft highest point of the trail - 1.900 ft at the base camp)
what I would have like to learn is how they were able to carbon date the paint of the murals. Which organic traces did they find that were not
available at the first tests?
elgatoloco - 5-19-2023 at 11:01 PM
In high school art history in the 70's I learned about the Caves of Altamira and the art there and was fascinated. I first learned about the cave
paintings in Baja via Harry Crosby decades ago and was fascinated. A few years ago I got to check off of my list the deep desire to see those caves.
Also got to ride a mule for the first time and spend three days and nights exploring the caves and sleeping under the stars. Our guides at the time
told us that the estimate on the paintings was around 7,500 years and that there was strong evidence of humans in the area dating back 10,000 years.
Whatever the age I was in awe to stand in the space and view the art while wondering what the motivation was and what life was like for the 'artists'.
The guides and the other citizens in the Sierra San Francisco that we engaged with were also fascinating. There way of life is unique. They care
deeply about the canyons and the caves. I would highly encourage anyone who has an inkling to visit to do so. The trip down was hard but not as bad I
had expected. It is something I would like to do again in the next few years while I still can.
YMMV.
Lance S. - 8-7-2023 at 05:12 PM
The presence of tabla in the Codornices great mural art might suggest that the style was in use much more recently.
Porcayo suggest that they may be fish which I find peculiar. C'mon now, those are tabla.
[Edited on 8-14-2023 by Lance S.]
JZ - 8-7-2023 at 05:25 PM
So, scientists were off target again?