A DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone has captured what is believed to be rock paintings around 7,000 years old. The cave art, discovered in the Alicante province along the coast of Spain, has managed to remain hidden till now because the mountainous region is extremely difficult to access on foot.
According to research published in the Spanish journal Lvcentvm, the coastal and pre-coastal area of the north of the province of Alicante is one of the main centers of Neolithic (or New Stone Age) habitat in the peninsular Mediterranean. In total, researchers explored 18 caves in the region using a small DJI drone with an Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS) and omnidirectional obstacle sensing.
Two of these caves, inaccessible without the use of climbing equipment, were found to be harboring prehistoric artwork measuring around four inches in size each. Raw drone data was then enlarged and analyzed using photo editing software, which led to the motifs being identified more clearly.
For instance, above you can see the before and after of a Levantine anthropomorph (a stylized human figure), which has been cleaned using Adobe Photoshop.
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Similarly, other fascinating human figures of female anthropomorphs and archers, as well as animals such as goats and deer, were also discovered on the cave walls.
“Thanks to the drone, we have discovered a new site with prehistoric cave paintings of different styles, which we believe will be very relevant for our ongoing research,” archaeologist and drone pilot Molina Hernández told Spanish News Today, adding that this could be the beginning of many other discoveries that will occur in the times to come in caves that have previously gone unnoticed because of inaccessibility.
Researchers further stress that in addition to prehistoric cave art studies, drones can be used in heritage research related to preventive conservation. The team is now conducting tests using the new DJI Mavic 3 drone which comes with an incredible 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera and even better obstacle avoidance.
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