World’s oldest known cave painting found, is more than 45,000 years old!

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Art world
By Kinjal Trivedi

Art column: World’s oldest cave painting is 45,000 year old! Art world Kinjal Trivedi World’s oldest known cave painting found, is more than 45,000 years old! Can you imagine the world 45,500 years ago? How the land structure must have been. What minerals the soil must have consisted of? What the humans must have looked like? Or even more, did Homo Sapiens even exist during those days!? Recently, Archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest known cave painting: a life-sized picture of a wild pig that was made at least 45,500 years ago in Indonesia. It was found on the island of Sulawesi in 2017 by doctoral student Basran Burhan, as part of surveys the team was carrying out with Indonesian authorities. The Leang Tedongnge cave is located in a remote valley enclosed by sheer limestone cliffs, about an hour's walk from the nearest road. Measuring 136 by 54 centimeters (53 by 21 inches) the Sulawesi warty pig was painted using dark red ochre pigment and has a short crest of upright hair, as well as a pair of horn-like facial warts characteristic of adult males of the species. There are two hand prints above the pig's hindquarters, and it appears to be facing two other pigs that are only partially preserved. "The pig appears to be observing a fight or social interaction between two other warty pigs," said co-author Adam Brumm. Humans have hunted Sulawesi warty pigs for tens of thousands of years, and they are a key feature of the region's prehistoric artwork, particularly during the Ice Age. Wait, what? There was ice in Indonesia? Maybe we really are at the end of seeing ice on our home planet. Are we really on our way to looking like Mars?

Can you imagine the world 45,500 years ago? How the land structure must have been. What minerals the soil must have consisted of? What the humans must have looked like? Or even more, did Homo Sapiens even exist during those days!?

Recently, Archaeologists have discovered the world’s oldest known cave painting: a life-sized picture of a wild pig that was made at least 45,500 years ago in Indonesia.

It was found on the island of Sulawesi in 2017 by doctoral student Basran Burhan, as part of surveys the team was carrying out with Indonesian authorities.

The Leang Tedongnge cave is located in a remote valley enclosed by sheer limestone cliffs, about an hour’s walk from the nearest road.

Measuring 136 by 54 centimeters (53 by 21 inches) the Sulawesi warty pig was painted using dark red ochre pigment and has a short crest of upright hair, as well as a pair of horn-like facial warts characteristic of adult males of the species.

There are two hand prints above the pig’s hindquarters, and it appears to be facing two other pigs that are only partially preserved.

“The pig appears to be observing a fight or social interaction between two other warty pigs,” said co-author Adam Brumm.

Humans have hunted Sulawesi warty pigs for tens of thousands of years, and they are a key feature of the region’s prehistoric artwork, particularly during the Ice Age.

Wait, what? There was ice in Indonesia? Maybe we really are at the end of seeing ice on our home planet. Are we really on our way to looking like Mars?


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