You're missing the point a little bit. "Abstract drawing" is the best description of the markings, not an argument that there was a culture of abstract art back

You're missing the point a little bit. "Abstract drawing" is the best description of the markings, not an argument that there was a culture of abstract art back then. (In the original paper -- the linked-to writeup is pretty poorly worded, yeah.) This drawing predates any drawings (as opposed to etchings) we know from humans by tens of thousands of years -- even if it's a child's doodling, it displays a level of cognition previously dated to much more modern times.