A team of researchers has uncovered a spectacular gallery of Ice Age cave art in a high-altitude grotto in Kyrgyzstan's Tien Shan mountains. The paintings, rendered in red and black ochre, depict abstract geometric patterns that researchers believe represent a sophisticated lunar and stellar calendar, mapping the movement of prominent constellations across the Central Asian sky.
This discovery pushes back the timeline for advanced astronomical observation in the region by several millennia. Alongside the celestial maps are depictions of extinct Pleistocene megafauna, including the mountain bison and the giant elk, suggesting the cave was a sacred site for hunters who relied on the stars for seasonal migrations.