On the ceiling of a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, scientists discovered a drawing depicting three human-like figures and a wild pig. It has been identified as the oldest known and dated cave drawing, created at least 51,200 years ago, reported "Reuters", quoted by BTA.
Scientists have used a new scientific method to determine the minimum age of a newly discovered painting in the Leang Karampuang cave in the Maros-Pankup district of South Sulawesi province and to laser date the calcium carbonate crystals that formed naturally on the painting.
"The method is a significant improvement on existing ones and will revolutionize the dating of rock paintings around the world," said Maxim Ober, an archaeologist at Griffith University in Australia and one of the leaders of the study published in the journal "Nature" .
The scene is dominated by the 92cm by 38cm animal, which stands upright next to three smaller, human-like figures. The drawing is colored in one shade of dark red pigment. There are other images of pigs in the cave.
Researchers interpret the drawing as a narrative scene, which they say is the oldest known evidence of storytelling through fine art.
The three human-like figures and the wild boar figure are clearly depicted not in isolation, but in separate parts of the rock art canvas, explained Griffith University archaeologist Adam Broom, who is also among the leaders of the study. The placement of the figures in relation to each other and the way they interact is clearly deliberate and creates an unmistakable sense of action. Something is happening between these figures. A story is being told. It is obvious that we do not know what this story is, he added.