Overview
- The negative hand stencil was identified in Liang Metanduno cave on Indonesia’s Sulawesi and dated to a minimum of 67,800 years using geochemical analysis of an overlying calcite layer.
- It predates the previous record holder, a Neanderthal painting in a Spanish cave, by roughly 1,100 years.
- The findings are detailed in a peer‑reviewed study in Nature by an international team that includes Adhi Agus Oktaviana, Maxime Aubert, Adam Brumm and Renaud Joannes‑Boyau.
- The result strengthens Sulawesi’s standing as a center of early imagery, building on prior local discoveries such as a ~45,000‑year‑old pig painting and a ~51,200‑year‑old hunting scene.
- Indonesian outlets are warning that nickel mining and other development could endanger these caves as public interest grows through media coverage and a new Arte documentary.