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Leang Bulu' Sipong 4 Cave

Earliest painting of humans
Dating to 41,900 BC

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Cave painting of dwarf buffalo, at Leang Bulu' Sipong 4
The head and forequarters of a dwarf buffalo (anoa) involved in the famous hunting scene at Leang Bulu' Sipong 4 Cave. One of the tiny human-like hunters (with animal-head) is visible in the bottom left-hand corner. Photo credits: Aubert, M., Lebe, R., Oktaviana, A.A. et al. Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 4.0)

World's Oldest Painting of Humans

In 2017, archaeologists investigated Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4, a newly discovered paleolithic cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Here, they found a faded cave painting which dated to 41,900 BC.

At the time, it was the oldest known figurative painting in the world. Since then an even older animal painting has been discovered at the Leang Tedongnge Cave, some 15 kms to the south.

In addition, the world's second oldest hand stencil has been found at Leang Timpuseng Cave, some 5 kms further south.

But the painting at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 is far more complex, and remains the world's oldest picture of humans.

Hotspot of Paleolithic Art

Indonesia is fast becoming a hot-spot of Stone Age culture, with both Sulawesi and Borneo harbouring some of the oldest parietal art anywhere in the world.

To date, the oldest Sulawesi cave paintings have been found in the limestone karsts of Maros-Pangkep, in the south of the island.

Here, in addition to the caves of Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 and Leang Tedongnge, archaeologists are investigating Leang Balangajia 1, Leang Barugayya 2, Leang Bulu Bettue, Leang Burung, and Leang Timpuseng, among others.

Meantime, just across the Makassar Strait, the forested limestone karsts of the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Peninsula (East Kalimantan, Borneo) have also yielded a collection of figurative cave art pre-dating anything Europe has to offer.

The oldest East Kalimantan cave paintings have been found at Lubang Jeriji Saleh (38,000 BC), but archaeologists are also investigating the caves of Lubang Ham, Liang Karim and Liang Tewet, as well as Liang Banteng and Liang Sara.

Also, it's worth remembering that Java - Kalimantan's immediate neighbour to the south - is the site of the world's oldest art - the Trinil Shell Engravings, dating to between 540,000 BC and 430,000 BC.

Discovery

According to a 2021 study entitled 'Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi', the painted panel found at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4, in 2017, was discovered accidentally by Indonesian archaeologist and study co-author Pak Hamrullah.

During a survey, he spotted what looked like a cave entrance located halfway up a cliff face. Using a fig tree vine for support, he climbed up to investigate it.

Cave Art

Inside the cave was a painted panel measuring 4.5 metres in length, which depicted a complex hunting scene.

The composition involved a group of eight small figures (therianthropes) with human-like bodies, but with muzzles, beaks and snouts (or other body parts) like those from birds and other animal species.

According to study co-author Dr. Adhi Agus Oktaviana, a researcher at Griffith University and the Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional, the therianthropes were armed with javelins and long ropes, and were depicted in the act of capturing and killing six game animals - two Sulawesi warty pigs (suids) and four dwarf buffaloes (anoas).

This extraordinary panel of cave art represents the oldest example of visual story-telling, and contains the oldest known therianthopes known to archaeology.

It is also the world's second oldest cave painting.

Who Painted the Art at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4?

Answer: we don't know for sure. Researchers believe the artists were most likely modern humans (that is, modern Homo sapiens), but there is a possibility that Denisovans may have been the artists responsible.

How Old is the Art?

Researchers used Uranium-Thorium dating methods to date the calcite growths (sometimes called 'cave popcorn') that had formed on the surface of the paintings.

U-series isotope analysis was performed on four knobby clusters of calcite overlying three separate animal pictures.

These included:

The dates represent 'minimum' ages for the pictures, since the dating method used, only dates the calcite on top of the paintings, not the paintings themselves.

At the time of these findings, the painted panel at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 cave was the oldest known figurative art in the world, superceding the animal paintings (37,000 BC) at Altxerri Cave, in Spain.

As important, the 'narrative story' depicted in the panel, predates similar story-telling art in Europe, by at least 20,000 years.

If the dating tests are accurate, it means that Indonesian Stone Age painters were light years ahead of their Eurasian counterparts.

Importance

According to study co-author Professor Maxime Aubert: "the cave painting from Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 suggests that there was no gradual evolution of paleolithic art - at least not in Southeast Asia.

All of the major components of a highly advanced artistic culture were present in Sulawesi by 42,000 BC, including figurative art, scenes, and therianthropes."

Adam Brumm, lead author of the study, stressed the importance of therianthropes:

"In Europe, scholars have long been interested in the oldest known images of therianthropes in prehistoric art, because they are generally accepted to represent the earliest evidence for our ability to conceive of abstract entities that do not exist in the natural world."

"Depictions of therianthropes are also seen as an indication of early spirituality or religious-like thinking."

Discussion

On the face of it, the finds in Sulawesi and Borneo have rewritten the early history of cave painting, and established SE Asia as an independent centre of paleolithic culture, several thousand years before Europe.

In addition, they raise hopes that aboriginal art in Australia will prove to be much older than results so far suggest.

Yet questions remain.

Indonesian Paleolithic Caves

Here is a summary of the main decorated caves in Indonesia, along with their oldest items of parietal art:

Sulawesi

Borneo

References

(1) Aubert, M., Lebe, R., Oktaviana, A.A. et al. Earliest hunting scene in prehistoric art. Nature 576, 442–445 (2019).
(2) Aubert, M. et al. Pleistocene cave art from Sulawesi, Indonesia. Nature 514, 223–227 (2014).
(3) Aubert, M. Brumm, A. Taçon, P.S.C. The timing and nature of human colonization of Southeast Asia in the Late Pleistocene – a rock art perspective. Curr. Anthropol. 58, S553–S566 (2017).
(4) Brumm A, Oktaviana AA, Burhan B, Hakim B, Lebe R, Zhao JX, Sulistyarto PH, Ririmasse M, Adhityatama S, Sumantri I, Aubert M. 'Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi.' Sci Adv. 2021 Jan 13;7(3).

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