Cave art discovered in Liang Bulu’ Sipang 4 cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia, is now considered the oldest painting of a hunting scene. The scene shows several humans or human-like figures hunting two pigs and four anoa, a species of dwarf water buffalo native to Sulawesi. Over time, layers of rock covering the cave walls slowly encased the mural. The research team dated these layers without disturbing the art. Dates of the rock layers covering the mural are as old as 44,000 years. This means that the hunting scene must be older – and at least 3,000 to 4,000 years earlier than others previously described from Europe or elsewhere in Indonesia.

Published in the journal Nature December 11, 2019, by Maxime Aubert and colleagues.