Cave to rave about

Earliest known decorations of human dwellings discovered Gal-imony hits home

A MASSIVE block of limestone in France contains what scientists believe are the earliest known engravings of wall art, dating back 37,000 years.

The 1.5-tonne ceiling piece was first discovered in 2007 at Abri Castanet, a well-known archaeological site in southwestern France, which holds some of the earliest forms of artwork, beads and pierced shells.

According to New York University anthropology professor Randall White, lead author of a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the art was probably meant to adorn the interior of a shelter for reindeer hunters.

‘‘They decorated the places where they were living, where they were doing all their daily activities,’’ White said.

‘‘There is a whole question about how and why, and why here in this place at this particular time, you begin to see people spending so much time and energy and imagination on the graphics.’’

The images range from paintings of horses to ‘‘vulvar imagery’’, carved into the low ceiling that rose between 1.5 to two metres from the floor, within reach of the hunters.

The work is less sophisticated than the elaborate paintings of animals found in France’s Grotte Chauvet, which was more remote and difficult to access, believed to be between 30,000 and 36,000 years old.

In contrast, the engravings and paintings at Castanet, which carbon dating showed were about 37,000 years old, are rougher and more primitive in style, and were probably done by everyday people.

‘‘This art appears to be slightly older than the famous paintings from the Grotte Chauvet in southeastern France,’’ said White, referring to the cave paintings discovered in 1994.

‘‘But unlike the Chauvet paintings and engravings, which are deep underground and away from living areas, the engravings and paintings at Castanet are directly associated with everyday life, given their proximity to tools, fireplaces, bone and antler tool production, and ornament workshops.’’

However, even though the artwork is vastly different, archaeologists believe the artists came from the same Aurignacian culture which comprised the first modern humans in Europe, replacing the Neanderthals. They lived from 40,000 years ago until about 28,000 years ago. TABLES have turned in US divorce courts with more women paying their former husbands alimony and child support than ever before, according to US lawyers.

Women are climbing higher up the career ladder and outpacing their partners’ salaries.

But when love goes wrong and marriages break up they are being compelled to contribute to the livelihood of their former spouses.

And some are not happy about it. More than half, 56 per cent, of divorce lawyers across the US have seen an increase in mothers paying child support in the past three years and 47 per cent have noted a hike in the number of women paying alimony, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

‘‘It shows that women have really moved up financially and that in many instances they are the major breadwinners in a lot of families,’’ said Alton Abramowitz, the president-elect of the academy.

‘‘The glass ceiling has been pierced and more and more women have taken over the financial responsibilities and have been saddled with them as well.

‘‘It is a fact of the way our society has evolved over the last number of years.’’

Abramowitz, who has been practising law for 39 years, described the survey’s findings regarding the changed role of women in the workforce as an indication of a sea change.