Archeologists found cave paintings of human handprints made roughly 12,000 years ago in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Xinhua reported.

The paintings, found at a village in Alxa Right Banner, are composed of 14 handprints in a brownish-red hue, with coloring made from a combination of germanium powder, animal blood and water.

The paintings could be part of a primitive religious ritual, which will help study human activity in the area, said Fan Rongnan, head of Alxa bureau of cultural heritage.

More than 30,000 series of rock art, known as the "Badain Jaran Rock Paintings" have been discovered in Alxa Right Banner so far.