Ancient Handprint Paintings at Leang Metanduno, The World's Oldest Non-Figurative Rock Art

UNGKIT.COM - Ancient handprint paintings at Leang Metanduno (Metanduno Cave), in Liangkabhori Village, Muna Island District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, are recorded as the oldest non-figurative rock art in the world, with an estimated age of at least 67,800 years.

This finding, from a collaborative research effort between the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Griffith University, and Southern Cross University (Australia), proves that early Homo sapiens already possessed maritime navigation skills and complex symbolic expression in the Wallacea region as early as ~70,000 years ago.

Researchers revealed that the minimum age of the Muna Island rock art is 16.6,000 years older than previously discovered rock art from Maros–Pangkep.

This rock art is also 1.1,000 years older than handprints from Spain, previously attributed to Neanderthals and previously considered the world's oldest cave art.

The handprints found in the rock art on Muna Island are globally unique, with modifications that narrow the finger shape to resemble a claw, reflecting a mature symbolic expression.

The symbolic meaning of this narrowing of the finger shape remains speculative. However, the art could represent the idea of ​​a close relationship between humans and animals.

To determine the age of this rock art, the research team applied laser-ablation uranium-series (LA-U-series) dating techniques to the microscopic calcite layer covering the cave painting.

The analysis revealed an age of 71.6 ± 3.8 thousand years, which provides a minimum age limit of 67.8 thousand years for the handprints at Liang Metanduno, Muna Island.

The discovery of handprints at least 67,800 years old in this limestone cave places Indonesia as one of the most important centers in the early history of symbolic art and modern human sea exploration worldwide.

This discovery is the oldest rock art ever reliably dated, and provides direct evidence that humans have been intentionally crossing the sea for nearly 70,000 years.

This discovery confirms that Wallacea was not just a route to Australia, but a primary living space for early modern humans.

It is highly likely that the artists of these paintings were part of a population that later spread further east and eventually reached Australia.

This discovery also strengthens the long chronology model, which states that humans reached the Sahul mainland (Australia-Papua) at least 65,000 years ago.

The discovery provides strong support that the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians were in Sahul at or before 65,000 years ago.

This research provides the oldest direct evidence of modern humans on the northern migration route to Sahul, which involved maritime exploration between Kalimantan (Borneo) and Papua—a region that has remained relatively underexplored archaeologically.

The findings demonstrate that Sulawesi is one of the oldest and most continuous centers of artistic culture in the world, with roots dating back to the earliest phases of human habitation in the region.

The discovery of rock art in Southeast Sulawesi marks an important milestone in the development of materials science-based archaeology in Indonesia.

This demonstrates how the application of cutting-edge technology, particularly laser ablation-based uranium series (LA-U-series) dating, allows for much more precise determination of cultural chronology.

By directly analyzing the calcite layers covering the rock art pigments, researchers no longer rely on indirect dating.

The physicochemical properties of calcite speleothems, which serve as natural microstratigraphic archives, allow this research to establish reliable minimum age limits for modern human symbolic activity. (*)

Dilarang keras mengambil konten (teks/tulisan, visual foto, gambar, ilustrasi, audio dan video) di website ini tanpa izin tertulis dari UNGKIT.COM. Siapa saja diperbolehkan menyalin link atau membagikan (share) konten UNGKIT.COM.