A stencilled outline of a hand discovered on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia has been identified by researchers as the world’s oldest known cave painting. The painting, located within a secluded limestone outcrop, was recorded using high-resolution photographic techniques and a laser scanning system to capture the minimal pigment patches present. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal residues associated with the stencil indicates a minimum age of approximately 235,000 years, placing the work well before the earliest known Upper Paleolithic art in Europe and the Middle East. The hand outline is simple, featuring elongated fingers and a broad palm, with a dark band suggesting a shadow effect. The overall design demonstrates skill in silhouette creation and spatial planning, evidence that early human populations engaged in symbolic expression earlier than previously documented.

The discovery provides a new benchmark for the timeline of human creative activity. Comparative analysis with other prehistorical sites, such as the caves of the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc region and the Altamira Gallery, shows that the Sulawesi hand stencil predates these European examples by more than 110,000 years. The methylation patterns of the associated organic material were analyzed, confirming minimal contamination and validating the static nature of the stencil over millennia. The absence of accompanying animal or plant motifs distinguishes this work and suggests a possible intentional focus on human corporeality in symbolic contexts. The findings reinforce theories that early symbolic behavior may have arisen independently across separate cultural groups.

Current research teams plan to conduct further excavations around the site to search for additional artifacts and pigment layers that might contextualize the hand stencil within a broader cultural framework. Collaborative efforts with bioarchaeologists aim to investigate possible associations between the hand and local fauna, as well as to model the environmental conditions that would have preserved the stencil over hundreds of thousands of years. Data from satellite imagery and GIS mapping will be used to locate related lithic scatters and to assess the spatial distribution of cave sites across Sulawesi, thereby contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of prehistoric artistic activities in Southeast Asia. _2_ The interdisciplinary study continues to refine the age estimates through advanced accelerator mass spectrometry, ensuring greater precision in dating and contributing to global chronologies of human artistic expression. _3_