Indonesia's Muna Island holds secrets to one of humanity's earliest artistic expressions - a hand stencil found on its wall is being hailed as the world's oldest known rock art. Estimated to be at least 67,800 years old, it was discovered in Liang Metanduno cave, where researchers also dated tiny calcite deposits that formed over the top to support this age.
The ancient hand stencil, with narrow and pointy fingers, is believed by some to hold symbolic meaning behind its distinctive shape. The team of archaeologists, led by Prof Maxime Aubert from Griffith University, found that it was created using a technique involving spraying ochre mixed with water over a hand pressed to the cave wall.
The age of this rock art sheds light on human migration routes and the settlement of Australia. While researchers are unclear about exactly when humans first reached Sahul, a northern route that crosses Sulawesi is thought to have played a role in their journey. This latest discovery may also provide insight into how Indigenous Australians originated from Southeast Asia.
The Liang Metanduno stencil joins other ancient rock art found on the island's south-western peninsula, which are estimated to be at least 51,200 years old. A narrative scene of three human-like figures and a wild pig was also discovered in another cave on the same peninsula. The age of this artwork is comparable to other ancient rock art found in Australia.
While some researchers argue that the distinctive fingers of the hand stencil suggest it was created by Homo sapiens due to its complexity, others are more cautious in their interpretation. Prof Paul Pettitt from Durham University noted that the shape of the fingers could have been caused unintentionally by the creator and questioned why this particular design is unique to Homo sapiens.
This latest discovery highlights the need for further exploration into human history and artistic expression. The Liang Metanduno hand stencil is an intriguing window into the past, offering new insights into our shared human heritage and cultural evolution.
The ancient hand stencil, with narrow and pointy fingers, is believed by some to hold symbolic meaning behind its distinctive shape. The team of archaeologists, led by Prof Maxime Aubert from Griffith University, found that it was created using a technique involving spraying ochre mixed with water over a hand pressed to the cave wall.
The age of this rock art sheds light on human migration routes and the settlement of Australia. While researchers are unclear about exactly when humans first reached Sahul, a northern route that crosses Sulawesi is thought to have played a role in their journey. This latest discovery may also provide insight into how Indigenous Australians originated from Southeast Asia.
The Liang Metanduno stencil joins other ancient rock art found on the island's south-western peninsula, which are estimated to be at least 51,200 years old. A narrative scene of three human-like figures and a wild pig was also discovered in another cave on the same peninsula. The age of this artwork is comparable to other ancient rock art found in Australia.
While some researchers argue that the distinctive fingers of the hand stencil suggest it was created by Homo sapiens due to its complexity, others are more cautious in their interpretation. Prof Paul Pettitt from Durham University noted that the shape of the fingers could have been caused unintentionally by the creator and questioned why this particular design is unique to Homo sapiens.
This latest discovery highlights the need for further exploration into human history and artistic expression. The Liang Metanduno hand stencil is an intriguing window into the past, offering new insights into our shared human heritage and cultural evolution.
on Muna Island in Indonesia! 67,800 years old? That's like, older than my grandpa was old 
. Can you believe it? The hand stencil is totally mind-blowing, with its pointy fingers and all. I think it's awesome that researchers are trying to figure out the symbolism behind it - maybe it holds some secret messages from our ancient ancestors 
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. And I love that the Liang Metanduno stencil joins other ancient rock art found on the island, which are estimated to be at least 51,200 years old 
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. Maybe they weren't even aware of what they were doing when they created it 
. Anyway, I think this discovery is a great reminder that there's still so much we don't know about our ancient past and how it shapes us today 
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. Those tiny calcite deposits were a game-changer in dating the artwork too. Its interesting that it might have had something to do with human migration routes to Australia 
. We can learn so much from ancient art like this, and its cool that researchers are still exploring and learning new things 
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That's crazy right? But what really gets me is how the forum is going to break this story. It's all over the place, with different posts and threads jumping all over the place. Can't we just have one solid article or thread about it instead of all these scattered thoughts? 
And what's with all the unnecessary comments from users who don't even know anything about the topic? 
It's just making the whole experience more frustrating than helpful. 
! 67,800 years old is just mind-blowing - can you even imagine what life was like back then? The hand stencil is so cool, I mean who wouldn't want to create something that's been hidden away for so long? And the fact that it might have some symbolic meaning behind those pointy fingers is wild 
67,800 years old?! That's insane! I'm literally in awe of humanity's earliest artistic expressions 
I mean, 67,800 years old?! That's like, even older than some of my grandparents' stories about our family history! 
The fact that it was created using a technique involving ochre and water just blows my mind 
. Anyway, I'm loving how it's shedding light on human migration routes and cultural evolution – it's like we're getting a glimpse into our shared history and who knows what more secrets are waiting to be uncovered 
I mean, can you even imagine what life was like back then? The way they created this art using just ochre and water is pretty wild too. And yeah, it's crazy to think that this rock art might hold some symbolic meaning behind those pointy fingers 
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And what's up with all these different interpretations of the same art piece? It's like they're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole... or in this case, a stencil hand into our understanding of human history 
researchers think its one of the oldest known rock art pieces in the world! some ppl think its got symbolic meaning behind that weird finger shape but others are all meh idk what to make of it 
. but seriously, this is crazy! i mean, who needs a time machine when you've got rock art that's older than some of our favorite memes 
. and btw, those fingers on the hand stencil are giving me life 
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. And who knows, maybe one day we'll discover an even older hand stencil and be like "wow, humans have been creating art for like a million years now!" 
? This hand stencil is literally a puzzle piece to understanding how humans migrated out of Asia and settled in the Pacific... I'm fascinated by the fact that we still don't know for sure if those fingers are a symbol or just a weird accidental shape 
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