40,000-year-old cave paintings in Indonesia

Scientists have discovered cave paintings created by prehistoric people on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, dating back 40,000 years.

The handprints in the caves of Sulawesi, Indonesia, dating back 40,000 years, show that Europe was not the birthplace of abstract artistic creativity. Until now, paintings of this age had only been found in Western Europe.

One of the works of art in a cave on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Photo: Maxime Aubert.

According to AFP, the cave paintings were created by spraying pale red paint around hands pressed firmly against the cave walls and ceiling. They were discovered 50 years ago, but only now have scientists from Griffith and Wollongong Universities in Australia been able to determine their age.

"The handprint is at least 39,000 years old, making it the oldest handprint in the world. Next to it is a 35,400-year-old image of a pig, one of the oldest drawings ever made," said Dr. Maxim Aubert from Griffith University, Australia.

Additionally, there are several other paintings in the cave dating back 27,000 years. This suggests that the local people continuously painted in the cave for 13,000 years.

According to the BBC, art and the ability to think abstractly are what distinguish humans from other animals. This ability led humans to use fire, invent the wheel, and develop technology that has helped humankind succeed. The appearance of these first cave paintings marks a crucial moment when our species became truly human.

For decades, the only evidence of cave art was found in Spain and southern France. This led to the interpretation that the origins of the art and science we know today stemmed from Europe.

"The discovery of similarly dated paintings in Indonesia has shattered this notion, allowing us to move away from the view that the creative boom was concentrated particularly in Europe and not flourishing elsewhere in the world," said Chris Stringer, professor at the Natural History Museum in London.

According to VnExpress.