Archaeology: Earliest known rock art from Indonesia (Nature)
22 January 2026
Hand-stencil motifs found in caves in Sulawesi, Indonesia, dating to at least 67,800 years ago, may be the oldest rock art discovered, according to a study published in Nature. These findings strongly support the theory that early humans migrated to Sahul (an ancient continent that connected Australia with New Guinea) via a northern route through Sulawesi.
Rock art offers rare insights into ancient human creativity and migration patterns. Indonesia is already renowned for housing some of the world’s earliest cave art, with Pleistocene paintings previously documented in Southwest Sulawesi and eastern Borneo. However, southeastern Sulawesi, first reported to contain rock art in 1977, has remained largely unexplored until now.
To better understand the lesser-explored area of Sulawesi, Maxime Aubert and colleagues surveyed caves across Southeast Sulawesi and recorded 44 sites, including 14 previously unknown locations, and describe rock art motifs found in these caves. They sampled tiny calcium-carbonate deposits that had formed over and beneath the paintings and applied high-resolution laser-ablation uranium-series dating. The results revealed minimum ages of up to 67,800 years, which surpasses the previously known oldest art by around 1,100 years. In some cases, two distinct episodes of art creation were discovered, separated by roughly 35,000 years, indicating a long-standing artistic tradition during the Late Pleistocene. Among the motifs are seven hand stencils, and a brown-pigmented human figure (dated to a minimum of 3,900 years ago) that may represent the earliest evidence of Austronesian cultural expression in the region.
These discoveries help to better inform the age and history of early human rock art and strengthen the case for early maritime journeys through Wallacea’s northern islands, where Australia and Asia meet. The authors suggest that similar ancient rock art may yet be found along this route, with implications for understanding the origins and age of early painted sequences in northern Australia.
- Article
- Open access
- Published: 21 January 2026
Oktaviana, A.A., Joannes-Boyau, R., Hakim, B. et al. Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi. Nature (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09968-y
Research Briefing: Hand stencils in Indonesian cave are world’s oldest known artworks
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00018-9
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