Indonesia, discoveries of what may be the oldest animal figure ever painted

More important discoveries involvingrock art come fromIndonesia, where as early as the end of 2019 some hunting scenes considered the oldest of their kind in the world, dating to about 44,000 years ago, had been found. Until now, the oldest known animal was a Celebes boar(Sus celebensis) found on the island of Sulawesi and dated to 43,900 years ago, but now two animals of the same species have been found, also in Sulawesi, one of which has been dated to 45,500 years ago.

The swine was found in the Leang Tedongnge cave (a cave located in an impassable area of Sulawesi, accessible only in the dry season and after a long hike through the mountains, in the middle of the rainforest): made with ochre pigment, it is in a fair state of preservation. Revealing the discovery is a team of archaeologists from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, and several Indonesian research centers, who published their study in Science Advances: They are Adam Brumm, Adhi Agus Oktaviana, Basran Burhan, Maxime Aubert, Jian-xin Zhao (Griffith University, Brisbane), Budianto Hakim (Balai Arkeologi Sulawesi Selatan, Makassar), Rustan Lebe (Balai Pelestarian Cagar Budaya, Makassar), Priyatno Hadi Sulistyarto, Marlon Ririmasse, Shinatria Adhityatama (Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional, Jakarta), Iwan Sumantri (Hasanuddin University, Makassar).

“It is one of the most spectacular and best-preserved animal depictions known in the region,” said Adam Brumm, archaeologist leading the research team. Brunn again, along with colleague Maxime Aubert, was the author of the 2019 discovery (the hunting scenes and the other Celebes boar). However, the new boar turns out to be older: to establish the date, the Australian and Indonesian experts used the technique of uranium series dating, which is based on the thorium and uranium isotopes of the limestone concretions that cover the paintings. And they found that it dates, precisely, to 45,500 years ago.

What are the implications of this study? “As far as we have been able to ascertain,” the paper says, “the confident dating of the Sulawesi boar at Leang Tedongnge now seems to make it the oldest depiction of an animal that exists in the world. In addition, this dated image of a pig endemic to the Wallacea Archipelago may also constitute the oldest known work of figurative art to archaeology.” Is it possible, then, to call this painting a work of art? Here the question is more complicated, because we do not know the degree of awareness with which humans who lived thousands of years ago painted these animals. However, Maxime Aubert told Agence France Press, “the people who made them were fully modern, they were just like us, they had the ability and the tools to make whatever painting they wanted.”

It is the same study published in Science Advances, however, that partially curbs enthusiasm: “Based on the available evidence,” the paper goes on to say, “we are unable to conclude that the Leang Tedongnge cave paintings are the work of members of our species who can be defined as ’modern’ from a cognitive point of view. However, this seems to be the most plausible explanation, given the sophistication of these ancient figurative works and given the fact that figurative representation has so far been attributed solely to anatomically modern humans.”

In this regard, therefore, one last question remains: in February 2018, there had been news that perhaps the oldest “artists” would actually be Neanderthals, given the discovery in Spain of some cave paintings that some scholars, in an article published in Science, had dated to 65,000 years ago, again using the uranium-thorium method. That dating, however, had been variously disputed because of some probable errors during the dating process, and thus remains very uncertain even now. At present, therefore, the Sulawesi boar is the oldest animal, but Brumm and his team do not rule out, however, that even older depictions may be found on the island.

Pictured is the rock artwork from the Leang Tedongnge cave. Ph. Maxime Aubert

Indonesia, discoveries of what may be the oldest animal figure ever painted

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.