by MELISSA AIT LOUNIS
Scientists in Indonesia have discovered the world’s oldest cave art, featuring a surprisingly ancient pig painting.
Scientists have just unearthed the world’s oldest known cave art on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. At 51,200 years old, the painting, depicting a pig alongside human figures, pushes back the timeline for when our ancestors first began to tell stories through art.
Discovered by an international team of Australian and Indonesian researchers, the artwork is both a breakthrough and a puzzle. It’s the earliest known instance of figurative cave art, predating earlier discoveries by over 5,000 years. What makes this find particularly significant is that it gives us a glimpse into the cognitive leap that allowed humans to communicate in increasingly complex ways.
A Peek into an Ancient Tale
Inside the Leang Karampuang cave, there’s a wild pig—standing, its mouth slightly open—and three human-like figures interacting with it. One of the human figures is holding a stick, seemingly close to the pig’s throat, while another stands with its head near the pig’s snout. The third figure, oddly enough, is upside down with its legs spread out, reaching for the pig’s head. According to Professor Adam Brumm from Griffith University, the painting is:
“the oldest known dated, evidenced—currently—of a rock art depiction of wildlife. But it can be superseded by an earlier claim, either in this part of the world or somewhere else in the not so distant future.”
When Did We Start Seeing Things Differently?
If this artwork is truly over 51,000 years old, it suggests that early humans were capable of far more sophisticated thinking than we previously assumed. The researchers behind aScience Advances study that dates and describes it point out that the painting shows humans and animals interacting, indicating that people were already conceptualizing relationships, actions, and possibly even narratives in their minds.
Dr. Henry Gee, a senior editor at Nature, the publication that featured the detailsn speculates that:
“Something seems to have happened around 50,000 years ago, shortly after which all other species of human, such as Neanderthals and the so-called Hobbit died out.” He added, “It is very romantic to think that at some point in that time something happened in the human brain, but I think it is more likely that there are even earlier examples of representational art”.
Sulawesi: Where Early Art Found Its Roots
As more discoveries emerge from Sulawesi, it’s becoming clear that Southeast Asia was playing a pivotal role in the development of human creativity. In fact, the island has yielded some of the oldest known hand stencils and even other animal paintings. But this most recent discovery takes it a step further, revealing a more intricate level of artistic sophistication.
As stated by Brumm, one of the researchers involved in the study, what sets this new discovery apart is its narrative structure.
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