In a rugged landscape in central Spain, archaeologists have discovered a unique granite cobblestone marked with a red ochre dot that preserves the mark of a Neandertal fingerprint. Dating back approximately 43,000 years, it could be the oldest and most complete Neandertal fingerprint ever identified.
Roughly 20 centimeters long, the rock bears a resemblance to a human face, with the ochre dot where a nose might be, researchers report May 24 in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. This arrangement, the scientists say, suggests it’s a case of pareidolia — the tendency to perceive familiar shapes, such as faces, in random objects. It’s possible the likeness inspired the Neandertal who placed