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Spanish cave paintings shown as oldest in world

By Seth Borenstein
Published June 14, 2012 6:56pm ET
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Spanish cave paintings shown as oldest in world
This undated handout photo provided by pedro suara/aaas shows detail of the 'Panel of Hands', El Castillo Cave showing red disks and hand stencils made by blowing or spitting paint onto the wall. A date from a disk shows the painting to be older than 40,800 years making it the oldest known cave art in Europe. The bison overlay the hands and are therefore painted later. New tests show that crude Spanish cave paintings of a red sphere and handprints are the oldest in the world, so ancient they may not have been by modern man. They might have even been made by the much-maligned Neanderthals, some scientists suggest but others disagree. (AP Photo/Pedro Saura, AAAS) | Pedro Saura

WASHINGTON (AP) — New tests show that crude Spanish cave paintings of a red sphere and handprints are the oldest in the world, so ancient they may not have been by modern man.

Some scientists say they might have even been made by the much-maligned Neanderthals, but others disagree.

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