Overview
- An international team led by Griffith University reports in Nature that a faint hand stencil in the Liang Metanduno cave on Muna Island is at least 67,800 years old.
- The age surpasses the previous Sulawesi record by about 16,600 years, making it the oldest confirmed cave art worldwide.
- Researchers applied a laser-targeted uranium–thorium method to date calcite layers adhering to the pigment, providing robust minimum ages for the motifs.
- The result strengthens the case for a northern migration corridor into Sahul via Borneo and Sulawesi and aligns with evidence of humans in Sahul by around 65,000 years ago.
- The site shows repeated painting over roughly 35,000 years, including much younger bird and human figures, and one hand image with deliberately narrowed, claw-like fingers.