Altamira's paintings were found thanks to an eight-year-old girl — and her father was accused of forgery.
In 1879 María led him into the cave, where he saw bison on the ceiling; experts scoffed that cavemen could not paint so well.
More amazing facts
- 18,000 BC · 9000 BC Pots appeared 8,000–9,000 years before farming.
- 17,000 BC · 1940 Lascaux was found thanks to a dog. In 1940, 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat noticed his dog poking into a hole left by an uprooted tree; inside were paintings 17,000 to 22,000 years old.
- 16,000 BC A puppy 18,000 years old turned up in the Yakutian permafrost with its fur and whiskers.
- 14,000 BC · 2560 BC · 300 BC Japan's Jōmon period lasted some 14,000 years.
- 13,000 BC · 1965 Houses built of mammoth bones were found by a farmer enlarging his cellar.
- 12,500 BC · 9000 BC Bread was being baked thousands of years before farming began.