Nature: Ancient Rock Art Discovered in Indonesia
Archaeologists at Griffith University in Australia have discovered the oldest piece of art in an Indonesian cave on the island of Sulawesi. According to the article, published In the journal Nature, the age of the rock painting is more than 51 thousand years.
The rock painting, which is in poor condition, depicts three people around a large red pig. To date the painting, the researchers used a technique that uses lasers and computer software to create a map of rock samples. This laser ablation method is more accurate and efficient than previous methods, such as uranium series dating.
After testing the new method on previous finds, the researchers confirmed the age of a rock painting found in another Indonesian cave as at least 48,000 years old. They then used laser ablation on a previously undated painting discovered in 2017, dating it back 51,200 years, breaking the previous record.
The find shows the development of narrative art among ancient people who likely migrated through Southeast Asia around 65,000 years ago. The discovery of these drawings confirms the complex behavior and storytelling ability of ancient people.
The first images created by humans in Africa around 100,000 years ago were simple lines and patterns. However, there is a significant gap in art history between these early drawings and the Indonesian rock paintings. It is believed that many examples of ancient paintings have either not survived or are still undiscovered.
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