World's Oldest Oil Paintings Discovered

Wowzers! They may not look like much, but these oil paintings discovered in a cave in Afghanistan have completely rewritten the art history books.

Parse this:

"KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Scientists have found what they described this week as the earliest oil paintings ever discovered.

Afghan murals show oil painting was going on for centuries earlier in Asia than Europe.

Murals found on cave walls in Afghanistan prove that painting with oil had been going on in Asia for centuries before artists used the technique in Europe, scientists said this week.

Until now, art historians believed that oil painting started in Europe in the 15th century.

Scientists found the murals in a network of caves where monks lived and prayed in the Afghan region of Bamiyan, according to a statement on the Web site of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, where the ancient paintings were analyzed."

Here's the original story from cnn.com: World's Oldest Oil Paintings

Ha ha ha! Love history. You think you've got it right and then blammo! Turns out you were off by a couple centuries.

It's wonderful to think how much there is to relearn and reexamine.

Here's to discovery!