Ancient drawing
Homo sapiens created the world's first known drawing on this stone about 73,000 years ago in what is now South Africa.
The stone is made out of pre-heated silcrete, a fine-grained cemented form of sand and gravel, the researchers said.
[Read more about the oldest drawing on record]
Cave excavation
Researchers carefully excavate the different layers within Blombos Cave, the archaeological site where they found the stone flake. Study authors Christopher Henshilwood and Karen van Niekerk have slowly been excavating this cave since 1991.
Panoramic view
A panorama of Blombos Cave, where the earliest known drawing was discovered.
Parallel lines
The stone flake has a drawing made up of nine red lines: six that are parallel and three curved lines that cross over them.
Ochre engraving
An abstract pattern that scientists found engraved on a piece of ocher unearthed at Blombos Cave in the same archaeological layer that yielded the stone flake.
The cave
The outside of Blombos Cave, which is located in southern South Africa.
[Read more about the oldest drawing on record]
