The world’s oldest figurative artwork has been discovered in a cave in Indonesia – a captivating image of a warty pig.
Archaeologists working on the site on the island of Sulawesi said the cave art is at least 45,500 years old. It is also thought to be the oldest surviving image of an animal. The animal is painted with red ocher pigment and appears to be observing a fight or social interaction between two other warty pigs.
The scene is painted with red ocher and shows a voracious pig that sees other warthogs fighting or otherwise interacting. Credit: Basran Burhan
Previously, it is believed that the oldest known cave art first appeared in Europe 40,000 years ago, with abstract symbols. By 35,000 years ago, art became more sophisticated, displaying horses and other animals.
This latest find in Indonesia disputes a long-held belief that artistic expression – and the cognitive leap that may have accompanied it – began in Europe. The cave paintings in Indonesia shed new light on the early story of mankind.
Co-author Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and associate professor at Griffith University in Australia who specializes in dating rock art, said the view is ‘Eurocentric’.
It is now thought that the ability to create figurative art – which refers to the real world – emerged before Homo sapiens migrated from Africa and was on its way to Europe and Asia more than 60,000 years ago, or that it was more than once emerged while humans were spreading the world.
Dating grot kuns
One reason for this may be because it is particularly difficult to date cave art, Aubert explained. However, rock art made in limestone caves can sometimes be dated by measuring the radioactive decay of elements such as uranium within the calcium carbonate deposits – sometimes called cave popcorn – that naturally form on the cave surface.
This was the case at the Leang Tedongnge site in southern Sulawesi, where a small cave popcorn formed at the back of the pig figure after it was painted. The date indicates that the scene was painted 45,500 years ago, Aubert said, and the cave art may be much older.
A second Sulawesi vortex-like pig statue, from another cave in the region, was dated at least 32,000 years ago using the same method in the study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
A second depiction of a warthog in another cave was dated at least 32,000 years ago. Credit: AA Octavian
The team expects that future research in eastern Indonesia will lead to the discovery of much older rock art and other archaeological evidence, which is at least 65,000 years old.
“We have found and documented many rock art images in Sulawesi that are still awaiting scientific dating. We expect the early rock art of this island to yield even more important discoveries,” said study co-author and Indonesian rock art expert Adhi Agus Oktaviana, a doctoral student, said. at Griffith University.
Steep limestone cliffs encircle the limestone cave where the painting was found. The cave is only accessible in the dry season with a narrow passage. Credit: AA Octavian
Prehistoric Picassos
The researchers were confident that the image of a warty pig, shown in profile and filled with irregular patterns of painted lines and stripes, due to the presence of prickly headpieces and facial warts – the two striking, horn-like protrusions in upper snout area .
The pig painted on the ceiling of the cave is 187 centimeters long and 110 centimeters high and has a red or mulberry color. The prehistoric artists used iron-rich rock as a pigment. use two colors. According to the researchers, there are three other pigs at the scene.
The researchers were confident that the image of a wart pig was due to the two striking, horn-like protrusions in the upper snout area. Credit: AA Octavian
Warthogs are still common in Indonesia and have been domesticated ever since.
Not much is known about the people who made the art, Aubert said.
Research has shown that Homo sapiens arrived in Southeast Asia between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago. While the researchers said they could not definitively conclude that the artwork was the handiwork of cognitive modern humans, it was the most likely explanation.
“Our species must have crossed Wallacea with jet skis to reach Australia at least 65,000 years ago,” Aubert said, referring to the region between continental Asia and Australia.
“However, the Welsh islands are poorly explored, and at present the earliest excavated archaeological evidence from this region is much younger.”
“This discovery highlights the remarkable antiquity of the rock art of Indonesia and its great significance in understanding the profound art history and its role in the early story of mankind,” said co-author Adam Brumm, a professor at the Australian Research Center for Human Evolution in Griffith, said.