The painting, found at Leang Karampuang cave on the east Indonesian island of Sulawesi, depicts three human-like figures and a wild pig. A cave painting in Indonesia is the world’s oldest example of a ‘picture story’, thought to be at least 51,200 years old. It is nearly 6,000 years older than the previous oldest cave art and was found nearby on the same island in Indonesia.
The painting, found at Leang Karampuang cave on the east Indonesian island of Sulawesi, depicts three human-like figures and a wild pig. Prof Maxime Aubert, one of the team of researchers from Griffith University in Australia, told BBC News that the discovery sheds new light on creativity during human evolution. “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. The researchers from Griffith University, Southern Cross University and the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency published their findings in the journal .
Samples of the artwork were taken in 2017 but weren’t dated until earlier this year. Taking over the title from a 45,500-year-old image of a wild pig in a cave at Leang Tedongnge, the world’s oldest figurative painting depicts three therianthropes (human-animal hybrids) and a wild pig. There are some examples of paintings in Spain - in Cantabria, Andalusia and Extremadura - that scientists have claimed are over 64,000 years old.
The findings ar.