In prehistoric art, finger flutings are lines that fingers leave on a soft surface. Considered a form of cave painting, they occur in caves at least through southern Australia, New Guinea, and southwestern Europe, and were presumably made over a considerable time span including some or all of the Upper Paleolithic. Most are not obvious figures or symbols but, rather, appear to many observers as enigmatic lines. They are also called tracés digitaux or finger tracings and (though these terms are also in part interpretative) meanders, macaroni, and serpentines. The term finger fluting was coined by Robert Bednarik.
Generally they are made in a substance called moonmilk.More on moonmilk here (I find it fascinating.)
Interestingly enough, there is evidence that some of the finger flutings in Rouffignac were made by little children, two to five years old.
Photos by Kevin Sharpe and Leslie Van Gelder of flutings on the ceiling of the Zone of Crevices, Gargas Cave, France, and at Desbordes Panel, Chamber A1, Rouffignac Cave, France.
