A set of red lines painted deep inside acave in Wales has been confirmed as the oldest known rock art in the British Isles. New research suggests the markings were created between 18,300 and 15,700 years ago, settling a debate that has divided archaeologists for more than a century.
The artwork is located in Bacon Hole, a cave overlooking the coast on the Gower Peninsula in southwest Wales. First discovered in 1912, the panel consists of 11 red horizontal lines that early researchers believed were made by humans during the Upper Paleolithic period.
Not everyone was convinced. Within a few years, some experts argued that the markings were simply a natural feature of the cave. With the exact location of the panel eventually lost, the discussion faded away. It wasn’t until 2022 that researchers relocated the artwork and finally had the chance to examine it with modern scientific techniques.
A Forgotten Discovery Returns
When archaeologists first reported the red-lined panel in 1912, it attracted considerable attention. At the time, researchers suggested it could be the first example of Upper Paleolithic cave art ever found in Britain.
The claim soon faced criticism. By 1928, several scholars questioned whether the lines had actually been painted by people. Instead, they proposed thatnatural processes might have created the unusual pattern.The uncertainty persisted for decades, largely because nobody knew exactly where the panel was located inside the cave.
According to the study published in Quaternary, that changed in 2022 when an international team managed to rediscover the markings and begin a fresh investigation. For archaeologists, the rediscovery was a rare opportunity to revisit a puzzle that had remained unresolved for more than 100 years.
The Evidence Points To Ice Age Artists
To determine the age of the artwork, researchers analyzed athin layer of calcite that had formed over the red markings. Using uranium-thorium dating, they concluded that the panel was created at least between 18,300 and 15,700 years ago. As mentioned by the paper, that makes the Bacon Hole markings the oldest known rock art in the British Isles.
Researchers found that the red pigment originated from hematite, a naturally occurring iron-rich mineral within the cave. They also observed that the 11 lines follow a strikingly regular pattern, a feature they believe is difficult to attribute to natural processes alone.
Other clues emerged during the investigation. The team identified finger dots and splashes of hematite in different parts of the cave, adding to the evidence that people deliberately used the pigment at the site.
Researchers are still cautious about the findings. The dating is currently based on a single analysis, and the cave walls will need further study to confirm the results.
Why Were The Lines Painted?
That question remains unanswered. While the study strengthens the case that the markings were created by humans, it offers no definitive explanation for their purpose. George Nash, an archaeologist at the University of Liverpool and lead author of the study, believes the location of the artwork may provide some hints. The panel lies deep within the cave, far from natural daylight.
“The darkness itself may have been an essential part of the ritual experience,” he said. “Deep cave chambers are acoustically unusual, visually disorienting, and separated from the everyday world. Entering such spaces could have created a sense of transition to a different realm.”
The cave seems to have remained important long after the Ice Age. Archaeologists have previously uncovered pre-Roman pottery fragments, a Roman bone pin, a seventh-century Irish brooch, Saxon beads and a medieval cooking pot at the site. Those discoveries suggest that generations of people continued to visit Bacon Hole over thousands of years. As Nash noted:
“practical considerations alone may not explain why people continued to visit the cave across such long periods of time,” he added that: “once a place becomes embedded in cultural memory, it can acquire meanings that endure long after its original purpose has been forgotten.”
