Britain's earliest prehistoric art found in beauty spot cave

Britain's earliest prehistoric art found in beauty spot cave 16 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAnna LewisandNeil Prior,BBC Wales George NashThe rock art was first discovered in 1912 (left) before being dismissed years later as a natural phenomenonPainted rock art discovered in a Welsh cave has been confirmed to be the oldest in Britain. The series of 10 red horizontal stripes was first found on the wall of a side chamber of Bacon Hole cave in Gower, Swansea, in 1912, before being dismissed years later as a natural phenomenon. But archaeologists have now used scientific advances to date the rock art to at least 17,100 years ago - also making it the oldest in north-western Europe.Archaeologist and prehistoric art specialist George Nash said the art could have been used as a "communication system" but that its meaning was something "way beyond our comprehension". According to Nash, at the time of the cave art what is now the Bristol Channel was a "rich fertile plateau" between Gower and the north Devon coast.This would have served as an important feeding ground in the summer for animals such as mammoth, bison, horse, elk, and reindeer, and would have in turn drawn hunter gatherers toward the area.It's thought they would have used some of the 95 caves along the Gower Peninsula facing the Bristol Channel, where stone tools have been found during excavations. At the time, the average summer temperatures would have been about -10C (14F) across the "treeless landscape" complete with melting water as glaciers began to retreat to central Wales. While the research has been hailed as a significant "rediscovery", mystery remains around the meaning behind the art. Nash, associate professor of the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and a research fellow at Liverpool University, said: "We, in our 21st Century mindset, call it art, but at 17,100 years ago BP (before present), it probably was a communicatio...