Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Graffiti seems to be everywhere

What do you know, archaeologists find an old wall, and someone has painted something on it, yet for some strange reason, they seem excited about it.

Archaeologists unearth ancient painting

French archaeologists have discovered an 11,000-year-old wall painting underground in northern Syria which they believe is the oldest in the world.

The two-square-metre painting, in red, black and white, was found at the Neolithic settlement of Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates, north east of the city of Aleppo, team leader Eric Coqueugniot told Reuters.

"It looks like a modernist painting. Some of those who saw it have likened it to work by (Paul) Klee. Through carbon dating we established it is from around 9,000 BC," Coqueugniot said.


11,000 years! That's pretty amazing. And remember, it's fully 5,000 years older than some people believe the age of the Earth to be. I can't help pity them all the wonder they miss through their adherence to dogma.

The best news is that there seems to be more..

"We found another painting next to it, but that won't be excavated until next year. It is slow work," said Coqueugniot, who works at France's National Centre for Scientific Research.

Rectangles dominate the ancient painting, which formed part of an adobe circular wall of a large house with a wooden roof. The site has been excavated since the early 1990s.


Not only is it the oldest painting on a constructed wall that we know off, it's also a fair bit older than the previously oldest one.

The world's oldest painting on a constructed wall was one found in Turkey but that was dated 1,500 years after the one at Djade al-Mughara, according to Science magazine.

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