In a discovery from the San Lázaro rock shelter in central Spain, near Segovia, archaeologists have unearthed what is thought to be the earliest known human fingerprint, challenging long-standing ᴀssumptions about the symbolic and artistic capabilities of Neanderthals. The find—an ocher-stained granite pebble with a well-defined fingerprint and arranged facial features—foretells an intentional attempt at symbolic expression some 43,000 years ago.

Dermatoglyphic image obtained by the multispectral analysis of the red dot. Credit: D. Álvarez-Alonso et al., Archaeol Anthropol Sci (2025)

The research, led by a team from the Complutense University of Madrid, the Geological and Mining Insтιтute of Spain, the Spanish National Police’s Scientific Police Unit, and the University of Salamanca, was published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. The researchers examined the granite rock using a range of scientific tools, including 3D scanning with lasers, multispectral imaging, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which ultimately revealed an unmistakable human fingerprint embedded in red ocher pigment.

“This is a contribution to our understanding of Neanderthals’ capacity for abstraction, and how it could have been one of the earliest human facial symbolizations in prehistory,” the study authors said. The fingerprint, forensic specialists confirmed, retains full ridge patterns, bifurcations, and convergence points—clear evidence of intentional application by a human, likely a male Neanderthal.

The 21-cm-long stone, geologically inconsistent with the immediate cave environment, appears to have been transported from the River Eresma approximately 5 kilometers away. It lacks utilitarian markings, and its unique size and shape are distinct from the other Mousterian-era tools discovered in the same layer.

A. The object before being fully excavated; B. Once unearthed, it is possible to appreciate the three main cavities and the central position of the red dot. Credit: D. Álvarez-Alonso et al., Archaeol Anthropol Sci (2025)

Most striking is the arrangement of features: two small, symmetrical indentations above a central larger indentation, with a precisely situated red ocher dot between them. Monte Carlo statistical simulations revealed that there existed only a 0.31% probability that the red dot’s alignment coinciding with the indentations occurred by chance, thereby making it more likely that the Neanderthal was trying to depict a human face.

Although interpretations vary, with some scientists wondering whether the work can actually be considered symbolic art, the authors believe the placement of pigment and choice of stone suggest symbolic activity. The researchers wrote: “It is not just a fingerprint; it is the signature of an individual who manipulated this object with a purpose that goes beyond the utilitarian.”

A. View of San Lázaro rock-shelter during the excavations. B. San Lázaro rock-shelter at the conclusion of the 2022 excavation. Credit: D. Álvarez-Alonso et al., Archaeol Anthropol Sci (2025)

Spanish cultural official Gonzalo Santonja praised the discovery at a recent press conference, calling it “the oldest portable object to be painted on the European continent” and “the only object of portable art painted by Neanderthals.”

The find contributes to growing evidence—La Pasiega and Maltravieso cave art, for instance—that Neanderthals, once thought incapable of abstract thought or artistic expression, may have had a more complex symbolic culture than was once believed. It doesn’t compare with the elegant cave paintings of early Homo sapiens at France’s Chauvet Cave, of course, but the San Lázaro pebble is one example of a seeming sea change in scientists’ understanding of the cognitive lives of Neanderthals.

Whether as ritual, decoration, or the first hint of a Neanderthal signature, this fingerprinted stone is strong proof that imagining, symbolizing, and creating were not exclusive to modern humans.

More information: Álvarez-Alonso, D., de Andrés-Herrero, M., Díez-Herrero, A. et al. (2025). More than a fingerprint on a pebble: A pigment-marked object from San Lázaro rock-shelter in the context of Neanderthal symbolic behavior. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 17, 131. doi:10.1007/s12520-025-02243-1