Conny Waters – AncientPages.com –<\/strong>\u00a0 A hand stencil discovered on the wall of a cave in Indonesia has been identified as the world\u2019s oldest known rock art, surpassing previous archaeological finds in the region by at least 15,000 years.<\/p>\n An international research team\u2014including experts from Griffith University, Indonesia\u2019s national research and innovation agency (BRIN), and Southern Cross University\u2014found and dated these cave paintings on Sulawesi island to at least 67,800 years ago.<\/p>\n Map showing the island of Muna, Sulawesi. Credit: Generated by M. Kottermair and A. Jalandoni using ArcGIS.<\/em><\/p>\n According to the researchers, this discovery offers new insights into early human migration and settlement patterns in Australia, suggesting that the Sulawesi artwork was likely created by a population closely related to the ancestors of Indigenous Australians. The hand stencil was preserved in limestone caves on Muna Island in southeastern Sulawesi and was found alongside more recent painted art.<\/p>\n To determine its age, scientists used advanced uranium-series dating methods to analyze microscopic mineral deposits that had formed both above and below the paintings at Liang Metanduno cave. This approach allowed them to establish a timeframe for the creation of the ancient art.<\/p>\n The hand stencil discovered in the Muna cave has been dated to at least 67,800 years ago, making it the oldest reliably dated cave art found to date. This predates the rock paintings uncovered in Sulawesi by the same research team in 2024. The study also revealed that the Muna cave was used for artistic purposes over an exceptionally long period\u2014paintings were created there repeatedly for at least 35,000 years, continuing until around 20,000 years ago.<\/p>\n 67,800 yr old hand stencil (with highlight). Credit: Max Aubert<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt is now evident from our new phase of research that Sulawesi was home to one of the world\u2019s richest and most longstanding artistic cultures, one with origins in the earliest history of human occupation of the island at least 67,800 years ago,\u201d said Professor Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and geochemist from the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research (GCSCR), who co-led the study in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n The researchers also noted that this particular hand stencil is a unique variant: after its creation, it was intentionally modified so that the negative outlines of the fingers appeared narrower and more claw-like. Professor Adam Brumm from Griffith University\u2019s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), another co-leader of the study, remarked that while this alteration is intriguing, its symbolic meaning remains open to interpretation.<\/p>\n Leang Metanduno, Muna, Sulawesi. Credit: Ratno Sardi<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThis art could\u00a0symbolise the idea that\u00a0humans and animals were\u00a0closely\u00a0connected, something we already\u00a0seem to\u00a0see in the very early painted art of Sulawesi,\u00a0with at least one instance of a\u00a0scene\u00a0portraying figures\u00a0that we interpret as representations of\u00a0part-human, part-animal beings,\u201d Professor Brumm\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Dr Adhi Agus\u00a0Oktaviana, a rock art specialist in\u00a0BRIN\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a0team lead,\u00a0whose doctoral research at Griffith University formed part of this study,\u00a0said the paintings had far-reaching implications for our understanding of the deep-time history of Australian Aboriginal culture.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very likely that the people\u00a0who\u00a0made these paintings\u00a0in Sulawesi\u00a0were part of the\u00a0broader\u00a0population that would later spread through the region and ultimately reach Australia,\u201d\u00a0Dr\u00a0Oktaviana\u00a0said.<\/p>\n There has been significant debate among archaeologists about when humans first occupied the Pleistocene-era landmass known as Sahul, which included present-day Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. Scholars have been divided between two main models: the short chronology model suggests that humans first entered Sahul around 50,000 years ago, while the long chronology model proposes an earlier arrival of at least 65,000 years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThis discovery strongly supports the idea that the ancestors of the\u00a0First Australians were in Sahul\u00a0by 65,000 years ago,\u201d Dr\u00a0Oktaviana\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Dr Adhi Agus Oktaviana illuminates another hand stencil found on Sulawesi. Credit: Max Aubert<\/em><\/p>\n Researchers have proposed two primary migration routes into Sahul: a northern route leading to the New Guinea region of Sahul via Sulawesi and the \u2018Spice Islands,\u2019 and a more southerly route that brought sea voyagers directly to the Australian mainland through Timor or nearby islands. According to Professor Renaud Joannes-Boyau, who co-led the study and is from the Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group at Southern Cross University, recent discoveries provide important insights into these ancient journeys.<\/p>\n The findings suggest that early humans most likely traveled from mainland Asia to Sahul by island-hopping along the northern route.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the dating of this extremely ancient rock art in Sulawesi,\u00a0we now have\u00a0the oldest direct evidence\u00a0for the presence\u00a0of modern humans along this northern migration corridor\u00a0into\u00a0Sahul,\u201d\u00a0Professor Joannes-Boyau\u00a0said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese discoveries underscore the\u00a0archaeological importance of the\u00a0many\u00a0other Indonesian islands\u00a0between Sulawesi and westernmost New Guinea,\u201d said Professor\u00a0Aubert,\u00a0who,\u00a0together with professors\u00a0Brumm\u00a0and Joannes-Boyau,\u00a0continues to search for more evidence of early human art and occupation\u00a0along the northern route\u00a0with funding from the Australian Research Council\u00a0(ARC).<\/p>\n See also:\u00a0More Archaeology News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The research on early rock art in Sulawesi\u00a0has been\u00a0featured in a documentary film,\u00a0\u2018Sulawesi\u00a0l’\u00eele\u00a0des premi\u00e8res images\u2019\u00a0produced by ARTE, released\u00a0in Europe today.<\/p>\n The study was published in the journal Nature<\/a><\/p>\n Written by\u00a0Conny Waters – AncientPages.com<\/strong>\u00a0Staff Writer<\/p>\n <\/div>\n![\"Discovery](\"https:\/\/www.ancientpages.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/munacave.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA Link To The Ancestors Of Indigenous Australians<\/h2>\n
67,800-Year-Old Hand Stencil<\/h2>\n
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