A warty pig painted on a cave wall 45,500 years ago is the world’s oldest depiction of an animal

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The oldest known figurative work of art in the world has been discovered in a cave in Indonesia – an endearing statue of a warty pig.

Archaeologists working at the site on Sulawesi Island said the cave art was at least 45,500 years old. It is also thought to be the oldest surviving depiction of an animal. Painted with red ocher pigment, the animal appears to be observing a fight or social interaction between two other warthogs.

This region is home to many intriguing limestone caves where other discoveries have been made. Cave art with a dating of a hunting scene 43,900 years ago was also found in Sulawesi at the end of 2019. The same team of archaeologists Human hand stencils found in 2014, dating back to 40,000 years ago.
Painted with red ocher, the scene depicts a warty pig watching other warthogs fighting or otherwise interacting with each other.

Painted with red ocher, the scene depicts a warty pig watching other warthogs fighting or otherwise interacting with each other. Credit: Basran Burhan

It was previously thought that the oldest known cave art first appeared in Europe 40,000 years ago, featuring abstract symbols. 35,000 years ago the art became more refined and featured horses and other animals.

These latest finds in Indonesia have challenged the long-standing belief that artistic expression – and the cognitive leap that came with it – began in Europe. The cave paintings in Indonesia shed new light on the early story of mankind.

Study co-author Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and associate professor at Griffith University in Australia who specializes in dating petroglyphs, said that view was “Eurocentric.”

It is now thought that the possibility of creating figurative art – which refers to the real world – either arose before Homo sapiens migrated from Africa and left for Europe and Asia more than 60,000 years ago, or that it arose more than once when people became scattered. the globe.

Dating cave art

While abstract art has been found in Africa dating back to 77,000 years ago, no earlier figurative art has been discovered on the African continent than that at sites in Europe and Indonesia, Aubert said.

One reason for that could be that it’s particularly difficult to date cave art, Aubert explained. However, petroglyphs made in limestone caves can sometimes be dated by measuring the radioactive decay of elements such as uranium in the calcium carbonate deposits – sometimes called cave popcorn – that naturally form on the surface of the cave.

This was the case at the site of Leang Tedongnge in southern Sulawesi, where a small cave popcorn had formed on the pig figure’s hind leg after it was painted. The date indicates the scene was painted before 45,500 years ago, Aubert said, and the cave art could be much older.

A second image of a warty pig in Sulawesi, from another cave in the region, was dated by the same method to at least 32,000 years ago in the study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

A second depiction of a warty pig in another cave dates back at least 32,000 years.

A second depiction of a warty pig in another cave dates back at least 32,000 years. Credit: AA Octavian

The team expects future research in eastern Indonesia will lead to the discovery of much older petroglyphs and other archaeological evidence, dating back at least 65,000 years.

“We have found and documented many petroglyphs in Sulawesi that are still awaiting scientific dating. We expect this island’s early petroglyphs will provide further significant discoveries,” said study co-author and Indonesian rock art expert Adhi Agus Oktaviana, a doctoral student. . at Griffith University.

Steep limestone cliffs surround the limestone cave where the painting was found. The cave is accessible only through a narrow passage in the dry season.

Steep limestone cliffs surround the limestone cave where the painting was found. The cave is only accessible through a narrow passage in the dry season. Credit: AA Octavian

Prehistoric Picassos

The researchers were convinced that the image was of a warty pig, shown in profile and filled in with irregular patterns of painted lines and dashes, due to the presence of spiny crests and warts on the face – the two conspicuous, horn-like protrusions in the upper muzzle area.

The pig painted on the ceiling of the cave is 187 centimeters long and 110 centimeters high and has a red or mulberry color – the prehistoric artists used iron-rich rock as pigment and used two colors. The researchers said there are three other pigs in the scene.

The researchers were convinced that the image was of a warty pig because of the two prominent, horn-like protrusions in the upper snout area.

The researchers were convinced the image was of a warty pig because of the two prominent, horn-like protrusions in the upper snout area. Credit: AA Octavian

Warthogs are still common in Indonesia and have been domesticated ever since.

Not much is known about the people who created the art, Aubert said.

Research has shown that Homo sapiens arrived in Southeast Asia between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago. Although the researchers said they could not definitively conclude that the artwork is the handiwork of cognitively modern humans, that was the most likely explanation.

“Our species must have crossed Wallacea by watercraft to reach Australia at least 65,000 years ago,” said Aubert, referring to the region between continental Asia and Australia.

However, the Wallacean Islands are poorly explored and currently the earliest excavated archaeological evidence from this region is much younger in age.

Non-figurative works of art have been attributed to other early humans, with petroglyphs found in Spain, believed to be the handiwork of Neanderthals – overlapping with Homo sapiens for about 30,000 years before disappearing 40,000 years ago. However, this finding has been disputed.
The depiction of the warthog is also older than other types of prehistoric artworks found in Europe, such as the ‘Lion Man’, a figurine of a human with a lion’s head and a ‘Venus figurine’ from mammoth ivory, both found in Germany and believed to be around 40,000 years old.
It is also older than a recent find on another Indonesian island – an image of cattle found in a cave in Borneo.

“This discovery underscores the remarkable antiquity of Indonesian petroglyphs and their great significance for understanding the deep history of the art and its role in the early story of humanity,” said study co-author Adam Brumm, a professor at Griffith’s Australian. Research Center for Human Evolution.

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