Prehistory
Apollo 11 Cave Stones: Africa's Oldest Figurative Art
The painted slabs became the oldest securely dated figurative art in Africa and showed that rock painting there began in the Stone Age tens of thousands of years ago.
Era · Before c. 3000 BC
Prehistory
From the formation of Earth and the age of dinosaurs to the first cave art and monuments, before writing was invented.
Prehistory
Venus of Willendorf: The Famous Palaeolithic Figurine
Found during excavations in 1908, the figurine became the world's best-known Palaeolithic image of the human body and is kept at the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
Prehistory
Pech Merle: The Spotted Horses and Hand Stencils of Quercy
Rediscovered in 1922, Pech Merle became one of the few decorated Ice Age caves in France whose original paintings can still be visited.
Prehistory
Cro-Magnon 1: The Rock Shelter That Named Europe's Early Humans
The finds gave their name to the early modern humans of Ice Age Europe; Cro-Magnon 1 became one of the best-known early Homo sapiens skulls.
Prehistory
Nawarla Gabarnmang: Ancient Rock Art Shelter of Arnhem Land
Excavations revealed one of the oldest securely dated pieces of rock art in Australia and a long record of Aboriginal occupation.
Prehistory
Gargas Cave: Hundreds of Hand Stencils in the Pyrenees
Gargas became the best-known example of Ice Age hand stencils, and the puzzle of its 'mutilated' hands is still debated.
Prehistory
Beringia: The Bering Land Bridge Between Asia and America
Rising seas flooded the land bridge by about 11,000 years ago, after the ancestors of Native Americans had crossed into the Americas.
Prehistory
Venus of Lespugue: The Stylised Ice Age Ivory Figurine
Found in 1922, the figurine became a classic example of Gravettian art and early evidence for string and fibre technology.
Prehistory
Côa Valley Rock Art: Portugal's Open-Air Ice Age Engravings
A planned dam was abandoned in 1995, the Côa Valley Archaeological Park was created in 1996, and the site joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.
Prehistory
Venus of Laussel: The Palaeolithic Woman with the Horn
Found in 1911, the relief became one of the best-known images of Ice Age art and a focus of debates about fertility, calendars and symbolism.
Prehistory
Venus of Brassempouy: The Ice Age Lady with the Hood
Found in 1894, the ivory head became one of the most famous works of Palaeolithic art and an early example of a realistic human face.
Prehistory
Mal'ta Figurines: Ice Age Ivory Art of Siberia Near Lake Baikal
Mal'ta became the best-known Ice Age art site in Siberia, and its child burial later revealed a lost population linked to Native Americans.