In a remarkable find on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, Australian and Indonesian scientists have uncovered the oldest known example of figurative cave art. This significant discovery, a painting of a wild pig accompanied by three human-like figures, is dated to be at least 51,200 years old. This age surpasses the oldest cave art by over 5,000 years, offering profound insights into early human creativity.
A milestone in human evolution
The discovery sheds new light on the timeline of modern human capacity for creative thought. Professor Maxime Aubert from Griffith University in Australia emphasized the importance of this find in an interview with BBC News. “The painting tells a complex story. It is the oldest evidence we have for storytelling. It shows that humans at the time had the capacity to think in abstract terms,” he said.
Detailed depictions
The artwork features a pig standing still with its mouth partially open, accompanied by three human-like figures. The largest figure extends both arms and appears to hold a rod, while another figure stands in front of the pig, seemingly holding a stick that might be touching the pig’s throat. The final figure is upside-down, with legs splayed and one hand seemingly touching the pig’s head.
Led by Adhi Agus Oktaviana, an Indonesian rock art specialist from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in Jakarta, the team suggests that narrative storytelling was a significant aspect of early human culture in Indonesia. Oktaviana noted, “Humans have probably been telling stories for much longer than 51,200 years, but as words do not fossilize, we can only go by indirect proxies like depictions of scenes in art – and the Sulawesi art is now the oldest such evidence by far that is known to archaeology.”
Earlier evidence of drawing, consisting of geometric patterns, dates back between 75,000 to 100,000 years ago from the Blombos Caves in southern Africa. The new Sulawesi painting, however, represents an evolution in the thought processes of our species, illustrating representational art – an abstract depiction of the world around the artist.
Implications for human cognition
Dr. Henry Gee, the senior editor at the journal Nature, where the details were published, pondered the triggers for this cognitive awakening. “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. 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.”
Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London believes that there might be ancient examples of representational art in Africa, where modern humans first evolved, that have yet to be discovered. “This find reinforces the idea that representational art was first produced in Africa, 50,000 years ago, and the concept spread as our species spread. If that is true, much new supporting evidence from other areas including Africa has yet to emerge.”
Advancements in dating techniques
The new dating was achieved through a novel method involving laser-cutting tiny amounts of the art, allowing researchers to study the artwork in greater detail and achieve more accurate dating. As this method becomes more widespread, other cave art sites worldwide may be re-dated, potentially pushing back the emergence of representational art even further.
Until a decade ago, ancient cave art was predominantly found in Spain and Southern France, leading some to believe that the creative explosion that shaped modern art and science began in Europe. However, the discovery of colored hand outlines in South Sulawesi in 2014, and the 2018 find of the then-oldest representational artwork in Lubang Jeriji Saléh on Borneo, challenged this Eurocentric view.
Professor Adam Brumm from Griffith University reflected on the significance of these discoveries, stating, “It is noteworthy that the oldest cave art we have found in Sulawesi thus far consists of recognizable scenes: that is, paintings that depict humans and animals interacting in such a way that we can infer the artist intended to communicate a narrative of some kind – a story.”