World’s oldest cave art discovered in Indonesia

South China Morning PostCenter-RightEN 1 min read 100% complete by Agence France-PresseJanuary 22, 2026 at 12:51 AM

AI Summary

short article 1 min

Scientists have discovered the world's oldest known cave art in Indonesia, dating back at least 67,800 years. The discovery, published in the journal *Nature*, was made by a team of Indonesian and Australian archaeologists in caves on Muna Island in the Sulawesi province. The art consists of red ochre hand stencils, including one with retouched fingers resembling claws, a style unique to Sulawesi. This finding sheds light on early human migration patterns to Australia. The research team ventured to the caves based on a tip from Indonesian archaeologist Adhi Agus Oktaviana.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Nature 40% Muna 50% Griffith University ×260% Australia ×270% Sulawesi ×370% Adhi Agus Oktaviana 70% Maxime Aubert ×380% Indonesia ×390%

Keywords

cave art 100% indonesia 90% oldest rock art 80% archaeology 70% sulawesi 60% prehistoric cave paintings 60% hand stencils 50% red ochre 50% human migration 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Positive

Score: 0.40

Source Transparency

Source

South China Morning Post

Political Lean

Center-Right (0.50)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Network visualization showing 6 related topics

View Full Graph

cave art indonesia oldest rock art archaeology sulawesi prehistoric cave paintings hand stencils red ochre human migration

Explore Full Topic Graph