A black pig painted on a cave wall 45,500 years ago is the oldest description of an animal in the world

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The oldest known figurative work in the world was discovered in a cave in Indonesia – a pleasant image of a black pig.

Archaeologists working on the site on the island of Sulawesi said the rock art was at least 45,500 years old. It is also believed to be the oldest surviving image of an animal. Painted using red ocher pigment, the animal appears to observe a fight or a social interaction between two other wart pigs.

This region is home to many interesting limestone caves, where other discoveries have been made. Cave art featuring an encounter with a hunting scene 43,900 years ago it was found in Sulawesi at the end of 2019. The same team of archaeologists in 2014 they found human hand patterns, which were dated 40,000 years ago.
Painted in red ocher, the scene shows a black pig watching other wolf pigs fight or interact in another way.

Painted in red ocher, the scene shows a black pig watching other wolf pigs fight or interact in another way. Credit: Basran Burhan

Previously, it was believed that the oldest known rock art first appeared in Europe 40,000 years ago, featuring abstract symbols. 35,000 years ago, art became more sophisticated, showing horses and other animals.

These latest discoveries in Indonesia have led to a long-held belief that artistic expression – and the cognitive leap that could have accompanied it – began in Europe. Cave paintings in Indonesia shed new light on early human history.

The study’s co-author, Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and associate professor at Griffith University in Australia who specializes in rock art dating, said the view was “Eurocentric.”

It is now believed that the ability to create figurative art – which refers to the real world – appeared before Homo sapiens migrated from Africa and moved to Europe and Asia more than 60,000 years ago. several times as people spread around the globe.

Meeting with rock art

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

One of the reasons could be that it is particularly difficult to encounter rock art, Aubert explained. However, the broken art made in limestone caves can sometimes be dated by measuring the radioactive degradation of elements such as uranium in calcium carbonate deposits – sometimes called cave popcorn – that form naturally on the surface of the cave.

This was the case at the Leang Tedongnge site in southern Sulawesi, where a small cave popcorn formed on the back leg of the pig figurine after it was painted. The data show that the scene was painted 45,500 years ago, Aubert said, and rock art could be much older.

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

A second description of a black pig in another cave was dated at least 32,000 years ago.

A second description of a black pig in another cave was dated at least 32,000 years ago. Credit: AA Octavian

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

“We have found and documented many images of rock art in Sulawesi that are still awaiting scientific dating. We expect the early broken art of this island to produce even more significant discoveries,” said study co-author and Indonesian rock art expert Adhi Agus Oktaviana, PhD student. at Griffith University.

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

Steep limestone cliffs enclose 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 Picasso

The researchers were confident that the image of a black pig, which is presented in profile and complemented by irregular patterns of painted lines and dashes, due to the presence of spiky ridges and facial warts – the two obvious, horn-like protrusions in the upper snout.

The pig painted on the cave ceiling measures 187 centimeters (6 feet) in length and 110 centimeters (3.6 feet) in height and has a red or mulberry color – prehistoric artists used iron-rich rock as a pigment and may have used two colors. Researchers said there were three more pigs on the scene.

The researchers were confident that the image of a black pig because of the two obvious, horn-like protrusions in the upper snout area.

The researchers were confident that the image of a black pig because of the two obvious, horn-like protrusions in the upper snout area. Credit: AA Octavian

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

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

Research has shown that Homo sapiens arrived in Southeast Asia between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago. While researchers have said that they are not able to definitively conclude that the work of art is the manual work of modern people cognitively, this was the most likely explanation.

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

“However, the Wallachian islands are poorly explored and currently the oldest excavated archaeological evidence in this region is much younger in age.”

The non-figurative work of art has been attributed to other people since spring, and the broken art found in Spain is believed to be the handicraft of Neanderthals – who overlapped with Homo sapiens for about 30,000 years before disappearing 40,000 years ago. However, this finding has been challenged.
The depiction of the black pig is also older than other types of prehistoric works of art found in Europe, such as the “Lion Man”, a lion-headed figurine, and a “Venus figurine” carved from ivory. mammoth, both found in Germany and believed to be about 40,000 years old.
It is also older than a recent discovery on another Indonesian island – an image of cattle found in a cave in Borneo.

“This discovery highlights the remarkable antiquity of Indonesian rock art and its great significance for understanding the history of deep art and its role in the early history of mankind,” said study co-author Adam Brumm, a professor at the Australian Griffith Research Center for Human Evolution.

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