Hand stencil in Indonesia dated to almost 68,000 years is oldest cave art found

Researchers dated a faded reddish hand stencil in Liang Metanduno cave on Muna, Indonesia, to at least 67,800 years by analyzing mineral crusts that formed over the image.

Researchers report that a faded reddish hand stencil in a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Muna dates to at least 67,800 years. The stencil was found inside the Liang Metanduno cave on Muna, which lies off the larger island of Sulawesi. Indonesian and Australian researchers say the image was made by blowing pigment over a hand pressed against the rock, and that mineral crusts that formed on top of the image were analyzed to determine its age. The study was published in the journal Nature and lists Indonesian rock art specialist Adhi Oktaviana as lead author with Adam Brumm of Griffith University as a co-author. Key details: - Location: Liang Metanduno limestone cave on Muna, an island off Sulawesi. - Age: The hand stencil was dated to at least 67,800 years old using mineral crust analysis. - Technique and attribution: The image appears to have been made by blowing pigment over a hand; reshaped fingertips led researchers to attribute the stencil to humans and to note a possible connection to ancestors of the first Australians. - Comparison: The stencil is more than 15,000 years older than a Sulawesi painting dated in 2024 at about 51,200 years. - Site context and discovery: Liang Metanduno is a known site open to tourists where many visible paintings are much more recent (about 4,000 years); Adhi Oktaviana noticed the faint hand images in 2015. Summary: The discovery extends the recorded age of rock art in Southeast Asia and shows that symbolic imagery was being made in the region tens of thousands of years ago. Researchers say the finding may inform questions about the timing of early human presence near Australia, and they report hopes of searching more of Indonesia for older or storytelling art.