World's oldest known cave painting found in Indonesia

Archaeologists have discovered the worlds oldest known cave art a lifesized picture of a wild pig that was painted at least 45500 years ago in IndonesiaThe cave painting uncovered in South Sulawesi consists of a figurative depiction of a warty pig a wild boar that is endemic to this Indonesian islandThe finding published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances also represents some of the earliest archaeological evidence for modern humans in the regionThe Sulawesi warty pig painting we found in the limestone cave of Leang Tedongnge is now the earliest known representational work of art in the world as far as we are aware said Professor Adam Brumm from Griffith University in AustraliaThe cave is in a valley that is enclosed by steep limestone cliffs and is only accessible by a narrow cave passage in the dry season as the valley floor is completely flooded in the wet season said BrummHe noted that the isolated Bugis community living in this hidden valley claim it had never before been visited by WesternersThe researchers noted that the Sulawesi warty pig painting dated to at least 45500 years ago is part of a rock art panel located above a high ledge along the rear wall of Leang TedongngeIt shows a pig with a short crest of upright hairs and a pair of hornlike facial warts in front of the eyes a characteristic feature of adult male Sulawesi warty pigs Brumm saidPainted using red ochre pigment the pig appears to be observing a fight or social interaction between two other warty pigsrdquo he addedThe previously oldest dated rock art scene at least 43900 years old was a depiction of hybrid humananimal beings hunting Sulawesi warty pigs and dwarf bovidsIt was discovered by the same research team at a nearby limestone cave siteBasran Burhan an Indonesian archaeologist and Griffith University PhD student who led the survey said that humans have hunted Sulawesi warty pigs for tens of thousands of yearsThese pigs were the most commonly portrayed animal in the ice age rock art of the island suggesting they have long been valued both as food and a focus of creative thinking and artistic expression Burhan addedThe team sampled the art for Uraniumseries dating a technique to determine the age of calcium carbonate materialsRock art produced in limestone caves can sometimes be dated using Uraniumseries analysis of calcium carbonate deposits cave popcorn that form naturally on the cave wall surface used as a canvas for the art said Professor Maxime Auburt from Griffth UniversityIt was this mineral deposit that after careful removal by Aubert yielded an age of 45500 years indicating that the rock art scene had been painted sometime prior to thisA second Sulawesi warty pig image from Leang Balangajia another cave in the region was dated to at least 32000 years agoThe scientists have now dated multiple examples of early rock art in Sulawesi including depictions of animals and narrative scenes that are outstanding both for the quality of their execution and rarity worldwideWe have found and documented many rock art images in Sulawesi that still await scientific dating said study coauthor Adhi Agus Oktaviana a researcher from Indonesiarsquos leading archaeological research centre ARKENASWe expect the early rock art of this island to yield even more significant discoveriesrdquo Oktaviana addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever