News Archaeology

A 43,000-year-old Neandertal fingerprint has been found in Spain

A red ochre dot may include the oldest, most complete print from our ancient relative

image of red fingerprint from a Neandertal

Multispectral photography of 43,000-year-old red pigment on a rock in Spain revealed an embedded fingerprint. Each red line is about 0.5 millimeters wide. The most likely culprit was an adult man painting with the tip of his finger.

D. Álvarez-Alonso et al/Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 2025

By Javier Barbuzano

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

In a rugged landscape in central Spain, archaeologists have discovered a unique granite cobblestone marked with a red ochre dot that preserves the mark of a Neandertal fingerprint.