Hands in the Dark

Alongside the animals, caves contain hand stencils — outlines made by placing a hand on the rock and blowing pigment around it. These appear worldwide, from France to Argentina to Australia. Recent analysis suggests that many of the hands are female — based on finger-length ratios — challenging the assumption that cave art was exclusively a male activity.

Modern brain-imaging studies show that creating and viewing art activates the same neural reward circuits as food and social bonding. The urge to make images may be hardwired — as fundamental to human nature as language, tool use, or music.