Creative Compulsion

Archaeologists are excited about recent carbon dating of petroglyphs in Nevada. Scientists now say that the rock drawings at Pyramid Lake, Nevada, are the oldest yet discovered in North America.* The name of the people behind these carvings remains a mystery, but they were among the first settlers of the Americas.

Researchers analyzed the radiocarbon content of organic sediment under the carvings and on top of them and arrived at an age of 10,000+ years by secular dating assumptions. As old as they are, the carvings at Pyramid Lake are not the oldest art in the world. Researchers have dated a painted tablet from Namibia at greater than 26,000 years old, and carved ochre from Blombos Cave in South Africa at an astounding 80,000 years old or older.

While these dates are grossly inflated because of uniformitarian assumptions, the fact that art is among the oldest of human artifacts speaks volumes. Even in the harsh environment after the Flood and the dispersion from Babel, humans were displaying creativity and artistic expression—characteristics of the Creator who made them. Indeed, the lead researcher at the Pyramid Lake site declared the artwork to be “absolutely beautiful.”

Associated Press

Recently discovered petroglyphs in Nevada are the oldest confirmed rock carvings in North America—possibly from the first settlers of the Americas.

As is documented in the book The Genius of Ancient Man, notions of primitive cavemen need to be discarded, and so too should their dubious old dates. These ancients were the descendants of Adam and Eve, who lived only a few thousand years ago, and like Adam they were made in God’s image.

*http://www.livescience.com/38865-oldest-petroglyphs-rock-art.html