Environment
Ancient red handprint in Indonesian cave may shift the timeline of human creativity forever
DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by BBC, click this post to read the original article.
Pallab GhoshScience Correspondent
You’ll be amazed to learn that the world’s oldest known cave painting has been discovered on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. This artwork is a red hand stencil estimated to be at least 67,800 years old, making it over 1,000 years older than previously dated cave art in Spain. What makes it even more fascinating is how the artist modified the hand’s fingers to appear claw-like, showing an early sign of symbolic imagination. This kind of creativity indicates that Homo sapiens had the capacity for abstract expression far earlier than once believed.
Until recently, many thought that the cradle of symbolic art was Ice Age Europe. But this discovery, along with others found in Sulawesi over the past decade, challenges that Eurocentric view. You’re now seeing a broader, deeper story of human creativity that began not in Europe, but likely in Africa and spread outward. Researchers say this capacity for imagination—key to language, religion, and science—has existed within your species since long before the European “creative explosion” once taught in universities.
This hand stencil was found in a cave called Liang Metanduno, where the ancient artist used a spray technique by blowing pigment around a hand pressed against a wall. The deliberate adjustment of the fingers into claw shapes reveals a level of intention and creativity that researchers say is uniquely human. Even Neanderthal cave art doesn’t show this type of symbolic transformation, further suggesting it was a cognitive leap made by your species alone.
What this discovery also suggests is that Homo sapiens reached the region of Sahul—ancient Australia and New Guinea—much earlier than once believed. If humans were creating symbolic art in Sulawesi nearly 68,000 years ago, it aligns with evidence that they could have reached northern Australia by about 65,000 years ago. This means your ancestors were not only traveling impressive distances but also carried a well-developed symbolic culture with them.
Backed by years of research and hundreds of newly discovered rock art sites, this breakthrough points to a new consensus. You now have a fuller picture of human history—one where creativity didn’t spark suddenly in Europe, but was always a part of your species’ journey. These early artworks reveal that storytelling, imagination, and symbolic thought were deeply embedded traits long before humans spread across continents.
