In limestone caves on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, hand stencils and paintings of wild pigs and buffalo were made at least 40,000 years ago, according to uranium-series dating published in 2014 and 2018. A scene of hunters pursuing animals, in a cave at Leang Karampuang, was dated in 2024 to at least 51,200 years ago, making it the oldest known narrative art. The finds show that the tradition of figurative painting was not confined to Europe and may have arisen very early in the history of Homo sapiens.
Before and after
- from about 315,000 years ago to 33,000 years agoMousterian
- from about 302,000 years ago to 32,000 years agoMiddle Paleolithic
- from about 115,000 years ago to 10th millennium BCELast Glacial Period
- about 75,100 years agoSymbolic engraving at Blombos Cave
- about 51,300 years agoSulawesi cave art is made
- from about 50,000 years ago to 2nd millenniumPre-Columbian era
- from about 50,000 years ago to 9,726 years agoUpper Paleolithic
- about 41,000 years agoNeanderthals disappear from Europe
- from about 40,000 years ago to 31,000 years agoAurignacian
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- 10 November 1517Origins of Protestantism
- from 1960 to 1970The Beatles
The era
This moment belongs to the Human prehistory (300,000 years ago to 3,200 BCE), the human story before writing.