About 14,400 years ago, in the Upper Paleolithica small group of hunter-gatherers entered into a cave in northern Italy accompanied by a canid. The journey was recorded in fossilized footprints, charcoal traces and marks preserved inside the Bàsura cave, one of the most important prehistoric sites of Europe.
Now, new research has allowed us to reconstruct how they managed to move through the absolute darkness of that underground environment. Far from using large torches, the explorers resorted to a much simpler and more efficient system: small lit pine branches.
The discovery provides unprecedented information about the technical capabilities and organization of human groups of the Upper Paleolithic. It also shows that these explorers knew perfectly well the resources necessary to move safely in complex spaces without natural lighting.
What they found in the cave that allowed everything to be reconstructed
The investigation focused on the cave of Garbagelocated near Toiranoin the Italian region of Liguria. There are human footprints, traces of a canid, charcoal marks on walls and ceilings, as well as remains of cave bears.
Previous studies had already determined that The group consisted of two adults, a teenager and two children who advanced several hundred meters into the cave during a single expedition that occurred at the end of the last ice age.
The novelty arose from the analysis of 56 fragments of charcoal found in the so-called Room of Mysteries. The researchers verified that more than half belonged to wild pines or similar species and that they came mainly from young branches of small diameter.
This information questioned the old idea that prehistoric inhabitants used large torches to enter caves. To verify the hypothesis, the team carried out experiments in another cave with similar environmental conditions.
The results showed that the small pine branches provided enough light to navigate safely and generated less smoke than the large torches.
How exactly did those little lit branches work?
The experiments allowed us to understand quite precisely How did this lighting method work? used more than 14 millennia ago.
Among the main findings are:
The branches used were between one and three centimeters in diameter.
- They came mainly from Scots pine.
- Two light sources were enough to illuminate the entire group.
- Visibility reached approximately ten meters once the eyes had adapted to the darkness.
- The flames produced little smoke and less glare.
- The entire tour would have taken about two hours.
- For the round trip, around twenty branches about thirty centimeters long were needed.
- The group was made up of five people and a canid.
According to the researchers, this system offered practical advantages in narrow galleries, where a large torch could be uncomfortable and consume more oxygen.
The level of organization that no one expected to find
One of the most striking aspects of the study is the level of planning it reveals. Experiments showed that the most efficient arrangement was to place one light near the front of the group and another at the back. That way, everyone could orient themselves better during the tour.
Test participants also found that Moving in line and maintaining contact with the person in front facilitated circulation through the narrowest and darkest sectors of the cave.
The analysis of the pollen found in the sediments also allowed us to reconstruct he exterior landscape of the time. The researchers identified an environment dominated by steppe vegetation and scattered pine forestsan accessible source of fuel for these underground forays.
Although it is still unknown what exactly motivated that expedition, the research offers a much more concrete image of how these human groups lived and organized themselves.
The small charred branches found in the cave reveal that the inhabitants of the Upper Paleolithic They did not improvise their trips underground: They had precise knowledge about lighting, mobility and use of the resources available in their environment.
