MACARONI

small tubular form of pasta (q.v.). in art, Late Paleolithic finger tracings in clay, the oldest form of art known. Innumerable examples appear on the walls and ceilings of limestone caves associated with human habitation in France and Spain, the oldest dating from about 30,000 BC. They range from simple scratchings and jumbled aimless lines to deliberate meanders and arabesques and outline drawings of animals. It is thought that these macaroni, like the numerous foot and handprints pressed into the clay of the caves, were inspired by animal tracks; they were perhaps first made in emulation of the similar claw marks of cave bears, with only a later realization of their potential for delineating form and design.