The limestone caves of Sulawesi have held their secrets for tens of thousands of years. Inside a cave on Muna Island, a faded patch of reddish pigment on the wall escaped notice for most of modern history. Only recently did researchers recognize what remained: part of a human hand, pressed against stone and sprayed with color sometime in the deep past.
The limestone caves of Sulawesi have held their secrets for tens of thousands of years. Inside a cave on Muna Island, a faded patch of reddish pigment on the wall escaped notice for most of modern history. Only recently did researchers recognize what remained: part of a human hand, pressed against stone and sprayed with color sometime in the deep past.
That patch measures just 14 by 10 centimeters. It shows portions of fingers and part of a palm. One fingertip appears narrower than it should be, deliberately altered either by moving the hand during painting or by adding more pigment afterward. The modification gives the hand a claw like appearance, a rare variation of a universal human gesture found nowhere else in the world’s ancient cave art.
For years, archaeologists believed the oldest rock art belonged to Europe. That view has shifted decisively toward Southeast Asia.
Uranium Series Dating Reveals a 67,800 Year Old Minimum Age
An international team co led by researchers from Griffith University, Indonesia’s BRIN agency, and Southern Cross University examined the mineral layers that formed over the pigment after it was applied. As detailed in the peer reviewed study published inNature, they used uranium series dating to measure radioactive decay in tiny calcite deposits that had accumulated on top of the artwork.
The analysis showed that the calcite formed 71,600 years ago, give or take 3,800 years. That means the hand stencil underneath must be at least 67,800 years old. The finding exceeds the previous record holder from Sulawesi by more than 16,000 years. It also surpasses a contested hand stencil from Spain attributed to Neanderthals, which carried a minimum age of 66,700 years.
The same rock art panel contains evidence of repeated visits. Another hand stencil located 11 centimeters away yielded a minimum date of 60,900 years. Above it, a separate pigment layer dated to around 21,500 years. The two painting episodes are separated by at least 35,000 years, suggesting that generations of people returned to the same spot to create art over a span of time longer than recorded human history.