Previously, the oldest scene of hunting that dated from 43,900 ago was found in Leang Bulu’ Sipong, in the limestone karsts of Maros-Pangkep, Sulawesi, Indonesia. On 13th January 2021, a group of scientists published their new invention in Science Advances. The report reveals their latest discovery of the old cave paintings of warty pig that are located in the Maros-Pangkep karst area. The first old rock art is from Leang Tedongnge and is supposed to be the oldest in the world. Its age is at least 45.500 years old. The second cave painting is from Leang Balangajia, dated approximately 32.000 years ago.
The rock art panel at Leang Tedongnge. Copyright © Adam Brumm et al. Sci Adv 2021.
Leang Tedongnge’s rock art depicts a warty pig (Sus celebensis) figure in a static position. The dated pig was painted in red or dark red color from ochre mineral pigments. Its outline consists of lines and dashes. These characteristics are fit with the Pre-Austronesian rock art that are marked by hand stencils, figurative animal, single color (usually in red or purple/mulberry), the use of brushwork or fingertips, and lines or dashes outline.
The dated pig was portrayed in twisted perspective, in which the ancient artist use the single angle of figure to depict how it appears when it observed from different viewpoints. This is a common perspective in prehistoric art.
Cave art is highly related to the evolution of humans’ cognitive competencies. According to Paul Gray (2010), in his thesis Cave Art and The Evolution of The Human Mind, cave art involves several basic cognitive competencies, such as attention, self and environment awareness, and symbolic thinking. Cave art also indicates the presence of the creative mind, since it requires some skills, such as combine and manipulates a memory to create a new representation, prepare and gathering the equipment to produce painting, and hold symbolic thoughts.
The creative mind that was presented in old cave art is vital to modern human’s ability to solve complex problems and make artwork.