Handprints on cave walls in a largely unexplored area of Indonesia may be the oldest rock art studied so far, dating back to at least 67,800 years ago, according to a new analysis by Indonesian and Australian researchers in Sulawesi.
The tan-colored prints were documented after researchers examined hand stencils made by blowing pigment over hands placed against cave walls, leaving an outline. The researchers said some fingertips were also tweaked to look more pointed, adding detail to what had been left behind in pigment.
To estimate the age of the artwork, the team said it dated mineral crusts that had formed on top of the cave art. On that basis, the researchers reported that the handprints date back at least 67,800 years.
The work, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, was described by study author Maxime Aubert as evidence of a more complex tradition of rock art—one that could have been shared as a cultural practice. Aubert’s findings were based on the new study from southeastern Sulawesi, which the report said is the oldest cave-wall rock art discovered in that region.
Independent paleoanthropologist Genevieve von Petzinger said she reacted strongly to the new results. She told researchers she “let out a little squeal of joy,” and added, “It fits everything I’d been thinking.”
The broader research question, scientists said, is when early humans learned to make art—moving from dots and lines to more meaningful representations of themselves and the world around them. The AP report said the newly dated cave drawings help firm up a timeline for the dawn of human creativity, while researchers also seek to understand how such traditions spread.
Still, it is not yet clear whose hands made the prints. The report said they could have been made by an ancient human group called Denisovans, who lived in the area and may have interacted with Homo sapiens ancestors before eventually going extinct. Another possibility the report raised is that modern humans, moving away from Africa, may have wandered through the Middle East and Australia around this time.
The report said fine details in the cave art—such as intentionally modified fingertips—point to a human hand. Researchers also reported that other drawings found in the same area, including a human figure, a bird and horselike animals, were created much more recently, with some dating to about 4,000 years ago.
Aubert said, in an email, “For us, this discovery is not the end of the story.” He added, “It is an invitation to keep looking.”