jan 1, 30000 BC - 30,000 BCE - Coliboaia Cave Art Oldest Paleolithic Art in Central Europe Charcoal Drawings and prehistoric engravings Apuseni Natural Park, Romania

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Quote from Cork Uni (link below) -

Similar ideas and techniques of cave painting were being practised throughout the continent of Europe, from the era of Aurignacian art (40,000-25,000 BCE) onwards. This is clearly demonstrated by the extraordinary find of cave art at Coliboaia Cave, situated in Apuseni Natural Park, Romania. The art consists of a number of charcoal drawings and prehistoric engravings, the oldest of which have been radiocarbon dated to at least 30,000 BCE, making it the oldest known rock art in Central or South-Eastern Europe. Although archeology has long known about the age and diversity of Franco-Cantabrian cave art, no equivalent examples of Stone Age art had been discovered in Central Europe until the recent discoveries at Coliboaia. As it is, the black paintings in the Coliboaia Cave are stylistically similar to the Chauvet Cave paintings (30,000 BCE) in France, which are - with the exception of the Fumane Cave Paintings (35,000 BCE) in Italy - the oldest known figurative art in Europe. Indeed only the image of the "pig-deer" at the Sulawesi Cave, Indonesia, dating to 33,400 BCE, is older. The Paleolithic art at Coliboaia was discovered by chance in Sept 2009 during routine exploration by a team of Romanian speleologists, and later certified by French paleontologists, led by archeologist Jean Clottes, a cave art expert for ICOMOS and UNESCO. Following the discovery, the cave was accorded conservation status and placed under the protection of the Romanian Federation of Speleology and the Apuseni Natural Park Administration.

Cave Art at Coliboaia

According to Jean Clottes, the cave contains about eight images drawn with pieces of black charcoal, using techniques very similar to those used in the decoration of Chauvet Cave in France's Ardeche Valley in the Rhone-Alps. Like most Stone Age wall art, the images represent a variety of animals, or parts of animals. Featured beasts include a bison with horns and mane drawn with bluish-grey lines; a part-drawn horse; a feline creature, two bear heads and two rhinos, including the head of a black rhino. There may be traces of other indistinct or unidentified animals. Unfortunately, over time, the drawings have been eroded by the actions of numerous cave bats. Furthermore, like as at Les Combarelles Cave and Font de Gaume in the Dordogne, some images have been almost completely obscured by a coating of calcite.

As well as the black drawings, at least two engravings were discovered: one seemingly depicted the torso of a woman; the other has not been identified. No hand stencils or finger-fluting or abstract signs have yet been detected. It is worth remembering however that - as at Cosquer Cave - much of the cave is regularly under water. So, it is possible that Coliboaia contains additional petroglyphs or pictographs that have yet to be found.

Significance

Until now, only one example of cave art had been discovered in Romania - two animal drawings at Cuciulat Cave, which came to light about 30 years ago. The only other Stone Age painting this far east - the Kapova Cave Paintings - is in the Ural Mountains of Russia, and dates to 12,500 BCE. If the terracotta sculpture "The Thinker of Cernavoda" (5,000 BCE, National Museum, Bucharest) is Romania's most important example of Neolithic art, Coliboaia Cave is certainly the country's most important example from the Paleolithic.

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