Lubang Jeriji Saléh is a limestone cave complex in Indonesia, located within the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Karst in the remote jungle of the Bengalon district of East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan province, on Borneo island. In 2018, a team of researchers announced the discovery of what was then believed to be the oldest known work of

figurative art Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...

in the world among the cave paintings, dating back 40,000 years. However, the same team has since found and dated an elaborate therianthrope rock art panel in the Leang Bulu' Sipong 4 cave in Sulawesi's Maros-Pangkep karst to approximately 44,000 years ago.

Cave paintings

The Lubang Jeriji Saléh site is one of many caves embedded in the steep mountains of East Kalimantan. Its walls and ceiling are covered with hundreds of hand outlines and outstretched fingers within bursts of red-orange

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

or iron oxide paint, as well as figurative cave paintings. An updated analysis of the cave walls suggests that the oldest of the finger stencils date back approximately 52,000 years, and the earliest actual painting, a depiction of a

banteng The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of wild Bovinae, bovine found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their Bali cattle, domesticated ...

bull, was created around 40,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years earlier than previous estimates. The bull, part of a trio of rotund bovine creatures, is over across and also made from reddish-orange

on the cave's

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

walls. Based on 2018 Uranium dating of small limestone crust samples, three phases of decoration were identified. The oldest phase includes the bull depiction and red-orange ochre hand stencils. During the second phase, stencils in a mulberry colour hue, along with intricate motifs and human figures, were created. Human figures, boats, and geometric designs are attributed to the third and youngest phase.

Investigation

The Kalimantan caves were explored in 1994, and the paintings were first spotted by French caver Luc-Henri Fage. Lubang Jeriji Saléh (initially called Ilas Kenceng in the Kalimanthrope publications) was discovered by Pindi Setiawan, Luc-Henri Fage, and Jean-Michel Chazine in September 1998, guided by Pak Saleh, a Dayak swallow nest hunter. The surveys and the study of the paintings were carried out during three subsequent missions. This vast fossil cavity, located 300 meters above a small river, runs parallel to the cliff and connects to the outside through three successive porches beneath a summit called Ilas Kenceng. LHFage L Saleh entrances from heli-2003

The paintings, which are highly varied, are located in ten specific zones. In addition to the ceiling with bovids, a notable element is a "Bouquet of hands". Luc-Henri Fage's 2003 inventory lists 328 negative hands and 43 representations, primarily anthropomorphs, mammals, and zoomorphs, along with a few signs (stick, barbed wire signs, etc.). Dating published in 2003 on a calcite formation covering two handprints indicated an age of 9900 years (U/Th combined with C14), providing the first evidence of this Borneo rock expression dating back to the Pleistocene. The 2018 team of researchers and scientists, led by Maxime Aubert from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

, Australia, and Pindi Setiawan from the

Bandung Institute of Technology The Bandung Institute of Technology (; , abbreviated as ITB) is a public research university located in Bandung, Indonesia. It has produced many notable leaders in science, engineering, politics, business, academia, and culture. ITB is one of th ...

, Indonesia, investigated the site, identified the rock paintings as the world's oldest known figurative art, and published the results in the ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' journal by the end of the year. According to a 2019 publication, the team has since discovered and dated an elaborate therianthrope rock art panel in the Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 cave in

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

to around 44,000 years old. To date the paint pigments, the team applied Uranium series dating techniques to the calcium carbonate (limestone) particles encrusting the depictions.

Importance

The discovery of the cave paintings is significant within human cultural history, as it supports the view that cave art was created simultaneously in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. However, the identity of the people who created the paintings and their subsequent fate remain unknown. Francesco d'Errico, an expert in prehistoric art at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

, described the investigation as a "major archaeological discovery", but also suggested that the discovery offered little information on the geographical origins of art.

References

External links

Web site of the Kalimanthrope team

Exploring the Hominid Fossil Record

Human Timeline (Interactive)
– Smithsonian,

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

(August 2016). {{Portal bar, art, History, evolutionary biology, indonesia 1994 in paleontology East Kutai Regency Archaeological sites in Indonesia Caves containing pictograms Caves of Indonesia East Landforms of East Kalimantan Art of the Upper Paleolithic Paleontology in Indonesia

Cave paintings

Investigation

Importance

See also

References

External links