Indonesian cave holds the world’s oldest picture story, dating back 51,000 years

Researchers from Griffith University and Southern Cross University in Australia have developed a new form of analysis that can determine the age of calcium carbonate on top of artwork. Using this technique, they were able to date an image of humans and a large pig to be over 51,000 years old, which is more than 4,000 years older than previously believed. The researchers suggest that the artwork may be even older and that this uranium-based technique has the potential to transform rock art dating.

Lead author of the study, Adhi Agus Oktaviana, noted that storytelling has likely been around for much longer than 51,200 years, but only art can provide indirect evidence of this. The Sulawesi art represents the oldest evidence known to archaeology. While the exact narrative conveyed by the artwork remains a mystery, it is evident that the characters depicted are part of a larger story.

In a previous study, the same research team found the oldest evidence of a hunting sequence in rock art in Sulawesi, dating back around 44,000 years. This scene portrays pigs being hunted, but the newly-analysed artwork, older than the hunting scene, does not clearly illustrate a hunting story. The discovery of such ancient art challenges our understanding of storytelling and human creativity.