Sulawesi Hand Stencils Dated 67,800 Years Redefine Earliest Known Cave Art
Updated (2 articles)
Dating Method Confirms Hand Stencils Are 67,800 Years Old Researchers used uranium‑series dating of mineral crusts that formed atop the pigment to establish a minimum age of 67,800 years for the negative hand stencil in Liang Metanduno cave on Muna Island, Sulawesi, making it the oldest reliably dated cave art worldwide [1][2]. The same technique placed the art firmly within the Upper Pleistocene, predating European Ice‑Age paintings by tens of thousands of years. This robust chronology strengthens claims that symbolic behavior emerged far earlier than previously documented.
Technique Involved Blowing Pigment Over Hand Shapes The hand outlines were produced by pressing a hand against the rock wall while blowing a fine tan pigment over it, creating a negative stencil [1][2]. After the initial mark, artists deliberately altered several fingertips, narrowing and elongating them to form pointed, claw‑like motifs, indicating purposeful aesthetic manipulation. Such post‑stencil modification is absent from known Neanderthal art, underscoring a uniquely modern creative impulse.
Find Extends Sulawesi Rock‑Art Tradition Across Millennia The Liang Metanduno panel contains younger paintings superimposed on the ancient stencil, demonstrating continuous artistic activity at the site for at least 35,000 years [2]. Field surveys have identified hundreds of rock‑art locations across Sulawesi, confirming that the region hosted a sustained symbolic tradition beyond the previously studied Maros‑Pangkep karst complex [2]. This long‑running practice suggests a culturally entrenched art system rather than isolated episodes.
Implications for Human Dispersal and Symbolic Behavior The age of the Sulawesi handprints supports models in which Homo sapiens reached the Sahul continent (Australia‑New Guinea) earlier than many estimates, potentially before 65,000 years ago [2]. While the creators could be early modern humans, some scholars entertain a Denisovan contribution, though definitive attribution remains unresolved [1]. The discovery challenges Eurocentric narratives of a single “creative explosion” and points to a broader, African‑rooted emergence of symbolic cognition.
Sources (2 articles)
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[1]
AP: Oldest Sulawesi cave handprints dated 67,800 years: AP details the blow‑pigment technique, the emotional reaction of paleoanthropologist Genevieve von Petzinger, and the unresolved identity of the handmakers, emphasizing regional cultural complexity.
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[2]
BBC: Sulawesi hand stencil dated 67,800 years is oldest cave art, reshaping origins of creativity: BBC highlights the claw‑like fingertip alteration, critiques Eurocentric art histories, and links the find to earlier Homo sapiens dispersal into Sahul.
Timeline
c. 73,000 BCE – Cross‑hatched markings on a South African rock‑art site are dated to about 73 ka, showing that complex symbolic markings predate the Sulawesi hand stencils and push the earliest known African cave art back several thousand years[2].
c. 67,800 BCE – Early modern humans create negative hand stencils on the wall of Liang Metanduno cave on Muna Island, Sulawesi, by pressing hands against the rock and blowing pigment over them; some fingertips are deliberately reshaped into pointed, claw‑like forms, indicating purposeful artistic manipulation[2].
c. 65,000 BCE – The Sulawesi dating strengthens the case that Homo sapiens reach the Sahul landmass (Australia–New Guinea) around 65 ka, aligning the art with the earliest settlement of Aboriginal Australians[1].
Jan 21, 2026 – Researchers publish a Nature study confirming the hand stencil’s minimum age of 67,800 years by dating mineral crusts that formed over the pigment, establishing it as the oldest reliably dated cave art worldwide[1].
Jan 21, 2026 – Maxime Aubert (Griffith University) notes that the stencils reflect a “more complex rock‑art tradition that may have been shared regionally,” underscoring a sophisticated symbolic culture across Sulawesi[2].
Jan 21, 2026 – Paleoanthropologist Genevieve von Petzinger reacts with a “squeal of joy,” saying the result “fits what I’ve been thinking about early art,” highlighting the discovery’s resonance with existing theories of early creativity[2].
Jan 21, 2026 – Lead researcher Brumm describes the claw‑like finger modifications as “a distinctly modern trait,” emphasizing a level of imaginative alteration absent from known Neanderthal art and pointing to a uniquely Homo sapiens trajectory of symbolic behavior[1].
Jan 21, 2026 – The study expands the known geographic range of Sulawesi rock art beyond the Maros‑Pangkep karst, showing continuous artistic activity at Liang Metanduno for at least 35 ka and indicating a long‑running tradition of symbolic expression in the region[1].
External resources (2 links)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0514-3 (cited 1 times)
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09968-y (cited 1 times)