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This research article uses U-Th dating of carbonate crusts in Spain’s Maltravieso Cave to determine the age of hand stencils. The study refutes previous claims about the age of cave art, finding minimum ages ranging from the Holocene to the Middle Paleolithic. This suggests both Neanderthals and modern humans may have created these motifs. The results challenge the established understanding of early art chronology, proposing that hand stencils could be a Neanderthal innovation. The authors discuss various interpretations of the data and its implications for understanding the origins of art and human visual culture.