A new study analyzed, plotted, and 3D-modeled the lines and dots that were pressed into the soft chalk wall of La Roche-Cotard (a cave in France) and found that the marks were indeed done intentionally by human hands. They also found that the cave was sealed away for between 57,000 and 75,000 years (until 1846) due to flood deposits and erosion. That window is long before Homo sapiens were in the area, confirming that the marks were done by Neanderthals — something which is backed up by the many distinctly Neanderthal stone tools from the Mousterian industry that were found in the cave. Until now, the oldest confirmed Neanderthal cave engravings were the 39,000-year-old cross-hatching patterns found in Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar. It’s great to have another nail in the “Neanderthals were dumb brutes” coffin. But it’s worth mentioning that Homo erectus carved a zigzag pattern into a shell 500,000+ years ago. Oh, and then there are the 65,000-year-old cave paintings that have been attributed to Neanderthals. Interestingly, the researchers believe that it’s less a question of whether different species were capable of these behaviors and more a question of whether the social dynamics were suitable for them.