eli5 how we know the date of cave paintings and carvings?

Question

I get that we’re able to date materials off carbon dating, but the rocks with the paintings or carvings are way older than the paintings themselves. How do we know when they were painted?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

One of the main pigments used in cave paintings is carbon black, or in other words, soot and charcoal, likely from the torches used to illuminate the cave when the paintings were done. This carbon can obviously be carbon dated.