For thousands of years, these artworks have been credited as the genius of cave men. Scientists believed these artistic visions were dreamed up and executed by male hands. But after more than 25,000 years, the results of a recent study have indicated prehistoric female artists also helped to create the famous 'Spotted Horses' cave mural and various others. After re-analysing the hand stencils inside the Pech Marle and Gargas caves in France, an archaeologist from Pennsylvania State University has said that 'even a superficial examination of published photos suggested to me that there were lots of female hands there'. Speaking to National Geographic magazine, Professor Dean Snow discussed his findings in the French caves and in the El Castillo cave in Spain. Using modern hands, Snow compared proportions and assessed the handprints in the artwork. His findings suggest the woman's role in prehistoric society was much greater than previously thought. He said: 'I had access to lots of people of European descent who were willing to let me scan their hands as reference data.' Snow also examined stencils in the Gargas cave - also in France - and discovered the artwork there suppported his findings in Peche Marle. He said to the magazine: 'We don't know what the role of artists were in the Upper Paleolithic society (roughly 20,000 to 40,000 years ago) generally, but it is a step forward to be able to say that a strong majority of them were women.'(Per info: http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=83&pst=1034869)
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