Oldest known cave art discovered in Indonesia’s Sulawesi island

The faint outline of a human hand discovered in a cave in eastern Indonesia is the world’s oldest known example of rock art, according to a new study.

The hand stencil, found in a limestone cave known as Liang Metanduno on the island of Sulawesi, was dated to at least 67,800 years ago, a team of researchers said in an article published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

That makes it more than 1,000 years older than the estimated minimum age of a hand stencil in Spain attributed to Neanderthals, and more than 15,000 years older than previously known cave art in Sulawesi, the report said.

“It is now evident from our new phase of research that Sulawesi was home to one of the world’s richest and most longstanding artistic cultures,” Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and geochemist who was part of the study, said in a statement.

The outline was likely created by placing a hand against the cave wall and blowing pigment over it, leaving a negative impression. The image was intentionally modified during or after the application of pigment to make one finger appear slimmer, giving the hand a more claw-like appearance unique to Sulawesi rock art.

The technical sophistication of the alteration was one factor that led researchers to conclude the artwork was more likely made by modern humans rather than earlier hominin species known to have lived in the region.

The hand stencil is poorly preserved, surviving only as a small patch of faded pigment showing part of the palm and fingers. Mineral growths covering the image allowed scientists to establish a minimum age for the artwork.

Other, more recent art is also found in the cave, which researchers said was used for artistic activity at different times, including thousands of years after the earliest hand stencils were created.

The study surveyed 44 rock art sites across southeastern Sulawesi, including 14 newly documented locations, and dated 11 individual motifs at eight sites.

Researchers from Griffith University, Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency, Southern Cross University and other institutions contributed to the study.