Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Ancient Cave Artistry: The Secret of Rare Manganese Black

We have now taken chemical analysis of some of those paintings and we know that some of that black is actually a very rare form of manganese called hausmanite.
Even more interesting the nearest place where you can find that Hausmanite the manganese is a hundred and fifty miles away in the Pyrenees in the mountains. Furthermore, in order to derive manganese from the stones that contain it, you have to burn it in a fire that it measures at least sixteen hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit in order to get that color.
A Stone Age artist was so careful about choosing his blacks that he decided he needed manganese from a hundred and fifty miles away wrought in a sixteen hundred and fifty degree temperature just to have something different than charcoal.

#cave #paintings #cavepainting