My interest in Indonesian cave art was first piqued by a recent paper on the oldest image of an animal drawn in a cave in Sulawesi. The paper by Brumm et al. (2021a), reveals the most ancient, dated painting, thus far, in the world, to be that of a Sulawesi Warty Pig Sus celebensis
Several Warty Pigs from Leang Tedongnge. Image credit: Brumm et al. (2021a). Original caption from their Fig. reads “(D) Stitched panorama view of panel 10 after enhancing with the Decorrelation Stretch (DStretch) computer program”
Brumm et al. (2021a) do a great job of setting this latest discovery in context, that I’ll let them describe the Pleistocene artwork, dated so far:
“The animal outlines are typically infilled with irregular patterns of painted lines and dashes rather than recognizable anatomical detail; solid infill is documented, but rare. Most discernible animal images appear to represent the island’s largest endemic land mammals: suids and dwarf bovids (anoas, Bubalus sp.). Images of suids are strongly dominant: Thus far, some 73 separate parietal motifs representing suids or suid-like figures (81.1% of animal representations) have been identified in Maros-Pangkep and Bone. Most seem to portray Sus celebensis (Sulawesi warty pig), a small (40 to 85 kg), short-legged pig with characteristic facial warts. S. celebensis is still extant. Although an old Sulawesi endemic, this species was widely translocated within Indonesia in late prehistory.
In total, five figurative paintings of animals from Maros-Pangkep have previously been dated to the Late Pleistocene using Uranium-series (U-series) isotope analysis of associated calcium carbonate deposits (coralloid speleothems). The earliest dated images occur on the same rock art panel at the limestone cave of Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 (Fig. 1). The 4.5-m-wide panel at this site consists of a scene portraying several human-like figures apparently hunting Sulawesi warty pigs and anoas. U-series isotope analysis was Maros district, Leang Bulu Bettue and Leang Burung 2, have revealed in situ archaeological evidence for Late Pleistocene pigment processing. This includes used ochre fragments at both sites and, at Leang Bulu Bettue, ochre-stained stone artifacts deposited around 40 ka. At the latter site, excavated examples of figurative and nonrepresentational artworks (“portable art”) also date to ~24 to 16 ka. Evidence for rock art production of a broadly similar antiquity is found in karst areas in the adjacent island of Borneo: At Lubang Jeriji Saléh, a high-level limestone cave in Kalimantan, U-series dating indicates a minimum age of 40 ka for a figurative painting of a Bornean banteng (Bos javanicus lowi).
In the present study, we describe the recent discovery and U-series dating of two Late Pleistocene figurative paintings of Sulawesi warty pigs in Maros-Pangkep. These parietal artworks are from two newly identified cave art sites: Leang Tedongnge and Leang Balangajia 1.
We
describe the animal images at these localities and report the U-series dating
results on associated speleothems.”
In interview, Adhi Oktaviana, a member of Brumm’s team commented: “In December 2017 we conducted the first survey of an isolated valley set in mountainous terrain a stone’s throw from one of Indonesia’s largest cities, Makassar. Despite its proximity to a major urban centre, there is no road to this valley. The small community of local Bugis farmers live a secluded existence, although they are widely reputed for the sublime quality (and potency) of their palm wine (ballo).
According to them no Westerner had ever set foot in their valley before. This secret valley is a pristine environment and a place of resplendent natural beauty. There is hardly any rubbish in the tiny village in the centre of the valley. Being there feels like stepping back in time. The valley harbours a limestone cave known as Leang Tedongnge and inside it we found a rock painting the locals claimed they had never noticed before.” When dated, the warty Pig turned out to be 45,500 years old!
The secret valley. Leang Tedongnge, lies near its head.
Adhi Oktaviana in front of the Leang Tedongnge rock art panel. Source: ibid.
The whole area north, south and east of Makassar has sizeable blocks of karst towers and plateau. As mentioned above a number of these have outstanding and ancient, Palaeolithic artwork.
To understand the fact that these early humans had a fully-fledged artistic repertoire, nearly 50,000 years ago it is worth looking at some of the cave paintings from the sites highlighted by Brumm et al. (2021a) above.
Leang Bulu Sipong IV
Until recently, this cave held the record for the oldest dated artwork in Indonesia. One again it is located in the Maros area of south Sulawesi. At the time of its publication it was described as the oldest hunting scene in the world.
At first glance, the most striking part of this art panel is the well-drawn anoa or dwarf buffalo. There are two species endemic to Sulawesi, namely the mountain anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) and the lowland anoa (Bubalus depressicornis). Which, the artist was depicting is a matter of conjecture.
Whatever the particular species, the most important point is the image’s age: 43,900BP as determined by Aubert et al. (2019)!
A closer examination reveals tiny figures which look weirdly distorted or have part animal bodies.
In an interview, with Naica-Loebell (2019), the team described them thus: “In between there are a total of eight tiny figures that look like humans with animal attributes, a kind of animal-human hybrid that experts also call therianthropes. Some of the little figures, reminiscent of stick figures, have faces that look like snouts, a pointed beak or even a tail. The researchers interpret the lines drawn next to them as long spears or ropes for catching the animals. They could be human hunters wearing skins, masks, or parts of animal bodies to camouflage themselves while hunting.”
Leang Timpuseng
“The oldest dated motif is a hand stencil from Leang Timpuseng, which has a minimum age of 39.9 kyr (Fig. 2) and is now the earliest evidence for humans on Sulawesi, as well as the oldest known example of this widespread art form. This motif is located on a 4-m-high ceiling next to a large irregularly infilled painting of a female babirusa, which has a minimum age of 35.4 kyr.” From Aubert et al. (2014) as is the illustration below.
Haematite from Leang Timpuseng. Image credit Ayu and Daeng (2018). Original caption reads: “Makassar Archeology Agency archeologist Budianto Hakim was showing a hematite, a mineral rock containing red pigment, found somewhere around Leang Timpuseng at Bantimurung district, Maros, South Sulawesi, on Friday (16/3/2018). Hematite was used as paint material for prehistoric people.”
It’s just a ruddy rock, right? Well no – this piece of ore containing iron oxide shows that people 35,000 years ago were well-aware of the minerals they needed and how to prepare them to produce pigments. The question is: “How long had they known this technique and where was it developed?” Some authors suggest humans may have developed this form of art as long ago as 65,000BP.
Colour enhanced image of a female babirusa. and the ancient, 39.9ka old, hand-sprint, also from Ayu and Daeng (2018).
Leang Bulu Bettue
Not all Palaeolithic art from Sulawesi is in the form of hand stencils or paintings of animals. During an excavation of Leang Bulu Bettue, Adam Brumm and his team, discovered six examples of portable art. Between 2013-2015 and 2017-2019, they excavated a series of deposits reaching deep into the Pleistocene. A quote from Brumm et al. (2017): “Below the topmost Neolithic level, dated to 1.7–1.6 ka cal (calibrated) B.P., are cemented layers of flowstone with a total thickness of 108 cm. This culturally sterile, capping flowstone unit sealed the lower strata and is underlain by three distinct Pleistocene cultural deposits: a 1.5 m-thick sequence of silty clays (layers 4a–e) spanning 29.5–22.3 ka; an underlying 50 cm-thick sandy clay (layer 4f) preserved near the eastern wall of the cave spanning 40–30 ka.
A series of finds of portable art, unique in Sulawesi were made.
Carved limestone slab showing an anoa, from Langley et al. (2020). Original caption reads: “Supplementary Figure 9: Progression of tracing development. (A) Original macro-photograph; (B) Overlaid tracing on photograph; (C) Tracing; (D) Tracing without lowered areas at top of the plaquette.”
Another very interesting piece of portable art was also discovered. Langley et al. Comment: “The second engraved stone plaquette was excavated in situ from the upper surface of Layer 4a in 2018. It is made on a small, angular piece of fine-grained limestone. As with the first artefact, the motif covers only one side of the stone. Seven deeply incised lines emanate from a central, facetted, oval form that dominates the engraved image.
The radiating lines and those comprising the circle-like form in the centre are all deeply etched (~2 mm) into the stone surface, with striations from the repeated use of a stone burin-type edge clearly evident in their cross-section profiles. The circumference of the oval has been further altered, with its distal edge bevelled-off to produce a rounded appearance to this central focal point.
The ‘rays’ were then added to the image. A red mineral residue is visible within the incisions located on the left side of the motif, suggesting that the image was traced or painted over with red pigment, perhaps to more clearly distinguish the incised lines —no red pigment residue was observed on any other part of the artefact surface.
Thus, the deeply engraved and red-traced image in a form commonly referred to as a ‘sun-burst’ or ‘rayed-circle’ in rock art studies..”
The sun-disc from Leang Bulu Bettue. Left and centre from Langley et al. (2020), right from Dafoe (2020).
It is notable that, this object looks very similar to objects from the Neolithic, but it in fact dates to 13.7 and 10.3 Ka.
The second group of art, namely jewellery made on bone was also excavated at the site.
Jewellery unearthed at Leang Bulu Bettue. Adapted from Brumm (2017): The perforated bone pendant (top) originated from Layer 4a (26–22.3 ka). It is made on a bear cuscus phalange with a medial–lateral perforation at its proximal end. The remnants of a notch used to constrain a point for drilling were identified. Protuberances on the head and base on the posterior surface exhibit polish, which we interpret as evidence for smoothing of the bone surface and the addition of greases from skin, leather, or the bone itself being lightly ground together (i.e., as a form of use wear). Evidence for the beginnings of a notch being worn into a corner of the perforation owing to threading (“key-holing”) is apparent on the distal edge of the perforation. The distribution of polish suggests that the perforated bone was strung as a pendant and suspended with the posterior face resting, and repeatedly rubbing, against a soft surface (e.g., skin or clothing).
The lower panel shows circular flat, perforated beads made on Babyrousa sp. lower incisor: A notch created by the use of a tool edge was first created followed by a blow which caused a section of the tooth to be detached. Subsequent drilling and smoothing then made it into a bead.
A third class of portable art was made by scratching the cortex of stone artifacts. For details see Brumm et al. (2020).
Lastly, in terms of artifacts associated with the production of art, the team also discovered large quantities of red ochres in layers 4a–e, and a singular, tubular piece of bone.
In layer 4b, we also found a small section of an A. ursinus (Bear Cuscus) long bone with traces of red and black pigment. The hollow, tube-like morphology of the bone, and the distribution of colorants on it, is consistent with those few bone items identified as “blow-pipes” or “airbrushes” from UP Europe, which were apparently used for creating hand stencils and other rock art. Whilst an exact location for this bone is not given in the text, layer 4b is dated to ca. 25.8ka in Brumm et al. (2017).
Whilst I have explored some of the outstanding, pieces of portable art found at Leang Bulu Bettue, there seems to have been some Palaeolithic cave art also discovered. I say ‘seems’ as one image used to illustrate the finds in their article for The Conversation (Brumm and Langley 2020) shows hand prints of a rather unique form. The photographer, Yinika Perston, is listed as an author for Brumm et al. (2020) and in the acknowledgements for Brumm et al. (2021b). It is almost certain she participated in the Leang Bulu Bettue excavation and that ergo, the hand stencils are from said cave.
Picture
of hand stencils by from Brumm and Langley (2020). Notice the narrowed digits,
thickened/lengthened digits and hand prints with an irregular number digits.
Whilst the hand stencils seem odd, they are not without precedence. Oktaviana
et al. (2016), explore this phenomenon in some detail, in their paper. They
speculate: “An important symbolic role is suggested for the narrow-fingered
stencils based on their spatial extent, whatever the time period of their
production. Fage (2010, 2014) suggests that the instances of sharpened fingers
observed in Kalimantan, south-west Sulawesi Selatan and Gua Anawai may
represent animal claws, as part of a shamanistic transformation to commune with
the natural world. However, the fingers themselves (without the palm) also resemble
combs and multipronged fishing spears, to the degree that the stencils of these
objects, as identified, may have derived from hand
stencils. Accordingly, it may have been material culture that provided some or
all of the inspiration for the practice of narrowing fingers. It is also
possible that the narrowed fingers marked clairvoyants, tribal leaders or other
individuals of particular importance to society, or were created for aesthetic
reasons. Unfortunately, the complete lack (to our knowledge) of ethnographic or
ethnohistorical documentation of rock art creation in Sulawesi makes any attempt
to interpret the narrow-fingered hand stencils
a matter of speculation.”
If that wasn’t enough, in 2017 Brumm’s team found human remains in the form of a fragmentary, partial, human maxilla. That is a story for another day. For those interested (and until I get around to writing a post on it) see Brumm et al. (2021b).
Leang Barugayya 2
Mention must be made of an early study made by Aubert et al. (2014). This was an important study, as it aimed to determine whether the cave art of Sulawesi was as old as that of Europe.
Aubert et al. (2014), describe their investigations: “To determine the age of the earliest rock art in the Maros karsts we undertook an extensive program of uranium-series dating of coralloid speleothems directly associated with the motifs. The sampled materials all comprise static coralloids that formed directly on top of clearly discernible motifs, offering the possibility to obtain minimum ages for the underlying rock art. In some cases, hand stencils and paintings were made over coralloids that then continued to grow, providing an opportunity to obtain both minimum and maximum ages for the art.
We collected a total of 19 coralloid samples associated with 14 individual motifs (12 hand stencils and 2 figurative animal depictions) at seven cave sites in the Maros karsts. Six of these sites are located within a ,1-km radius in the Bantimurung region, close to Leang Burung 2. Four of the Bantimurung sites (Gua Jing, Leang Barugayya 1 and 2, and Leang Timpuseng) are situated in a large limestone outlier roughly 2 km in diameter and 180 m high. Leang Sampeang is located in an elevated niche on tall limestone cliffs ,500 m east of the outlier, whereas Leang Lompoa occurs at the base of an adjacent karst inselberg. The seventh cave site, Leang Jarie, is in the Simbang district southeast of Bantimurung.”
The ages of the hand prints and animal depictions were arrived at by Uranium-Thorium dating as Aubert et al. describe: “Coralloid speleothems form from thin films of water precipitation on cave surfaces, resulting in concentric growth rings, and can be nodular, globular, botryoidal or coral-like in morphology. When precipitated from saturated solutions, calcium carbonate usually contains small amounts of soluble uranium (238U and 234U), which eventually decay to 230Th. The latter is essentially insoluble in cave waters and will not precipitate with the calcium carbonate. This produces disequilibrium in the decay chain where all isotopes in the series are no longer decaying at the same rate. Subsequently, 238U and 234U decay to 230Th until secular equilibrium is reached. Because the decay rates are known, the precise measurement of these isotopes allows calculation of the age of the carbonate formation.”
Badly eroded animal painting, photographed at Leang Barugayya 2, from Aubert et al. (2014). Original caption reads: “Composite of photographs showing the locations of the sampled coralloid speleothems and associated large infilled red painting of an animal. Field photographs were altered in the software program DStretch to enhance the image (b). The animal species depicted is unidentified as a result of the extent of weathering and deterioration of the painting and the thick accumulation of coralloids over the art; however, the painting seems to show in profile a large land mammal, probably a pig (a babirusa or Sus celebensis), with the head facing right and the hindquarters at the left.” As can be seen in the annotation, the animal was dated to 35.7ka.
Leang Balangajia
During the same expedition that discovered he oldest, cave art in the world at Leang Tedongnge (minimum age 45.5 ka), Brumm (2021a) and his team also took samples from Leang Balangajia 1, these dated to at least 32 kya.
Cave art at Leang Balangajia. From Brumm et al. (2021a). Original caption reads: “Fig. 4. Dated painting of a pig at Leang Balangajia 1. (A and B) Leang Balangajia 1 cave. The cave is located in the upper karst network of a limestone hill (A); the cave entrance [concealed by dense vegetation in (A)] is shown in the photostitched panorama in (B). (C) Plan and section of Leang Balangajia 1 (the red star shows the location of the dated pig figure). (D and E) Dated artwork, a large red outline profile painting of a pig. (D) Photograph enhanced using the Decorrelation Stretch (DStretch). (E) Tracing (gray shading indicates exfoliated areas of the panel). The pig figure is 187 cm in length and 110 cm in height. FW, preorbital facial warts, a diagnostic characteristic of S. celebensis; HC, head crest. Four hand stencils (darker in color) are superimposed on the pig. The pig figure displays an unidentified morphological feature, a pair of hairy teat-like protuberances in the lower neck area [highlighted by arrows in (D) and (C)]. Photo credits: A. A. Oktaviana, ARKENAS/Griffith University.”
Gua Uhallie
One of the most enigmatic and hard to pin down sites in south Sulawesi. This cave, unlike those highlighted so far is located in the Bone regency, approximately 35km ESE of the Maros caves. One of most startling features of this cave is the high number and quality of its animal images. In fact it has the highest number of any cave in Sulawesi. Unfortunately, none are yet dated.
Anoa or dwarf buffalo (Bubalus sp.) photographed by Maxime Aubert, from Vergano (2014). According to Mulyadi (2016), Gua Uhallie has 7 images of fauna: 4 of anoa and 3 ‘babi hutan’, which translates roughly as forest pig (perhaps female babirusa?).
As well as the animal paintings, there are over a hundred hand print stencils, the whole assemblage spread over 8 panels in different areas of the cave. This drawing from Leihitu (2015) gives a great overview of their proportions and location:
The full range of images is truly impressive and some idea of their exquisite, artistic quality can be gained from this collage from Mulyadi (2016):
One final picture is worth reproducing here, that of a running ‘babi hutan’ or perhaps a Warty Pig(?) from Leihitu (2015):
The ancient artist, has truly captured the sense of a wild boar in flight. As Pablo Picasso said of the 17,000 BP, Lascaux paintings, when he left the cave "We have invented nothing". This sentiment seems to be doubly pertinent to the perhaps, 40,000 year old paintings at Gua Uhallie.
This brief dip into the cave art of Sulawesi, just scratches the surface of the fantastic cave art discovered in south east Asia since the 1950’s. It is truly remarkable and equals or perhaps, even exceeds the more famous art from ice-age Europe in its true expression of the word ‘Art’.
What next for the region? Cave excavation continues with constant discoveries made of even older deposits. The Leang Burung 2 re-investigation by Brumm et al. (2018), shows that deeper deposits perhaps 100ka, old with butchered megafauna and primitive stone tools exist in Sulawesi. It therefore seems more than possible that remains of ancient hominins, such as the Denisovans and perhaps their art, may be discovered on the island or in the region more widely.
For myself, I intend to delve deeper into the art of the caves of Sulawesi.. maybe even produce an interactive map of the cave art, so far discovered as I did for western Neanderthals (see here).
References
Aubert, M., Brumm, A., Ramli, M., Sutikna, T., Saptomo, E.W., Hakim, B., Morwood, M.J., van den Bergh, G.D., Kinsley, L. and Dosseto, A., (2014). Pleistocene cave art from Sulawesi, Indonesia. Nature, 514(7521), pp.223-227.
Aubert, M., Lebe, R., Oktaviana, A.A., Tang, M., Burhan, B., Jusdi, A., Hakim, B., Zhao, J.X., Geria, I., Sulistyarto, P.H. and Sardi, R., (2019). Earliest hunting scene in prehistoric art. Nature, 576(7787), pp.442-445.
Ayu, R. S. and M. F. Daeng (2018). Traces of Sulawesi’s early humans. Maros Cave. At: https://interaktif.kompas.id/baca/maros-cave/ accessed 20/05/2022
Brumm, A., Langley, M.C., Moore, M.W., Hakim, B., Ramli, M., Sumantri, I., Burhan, B., Saiful, A.M., Siagian, L., Suryatman and Sardi, R., (2017). Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(16), pp.4105-4110.
Brumm, A., Hakim, B., Ramli, M., Aubert, M., van den Bergh, G.D., Li, B., Burhan, B., Saiful, A.M., Siagian, L., Sardi, R. and Jusdi, A., (2018). A reassessment of the early archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a Late Pleistocene rock-shelter site on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. PloS one, 13(4), p.e0193025.
Brumm, A. and M.C. Langley (2020). Ice age art and ‘jewellery’ found in an Indonesian cave reveal an ancient symbolic culture. The Conversation, at: https://theconversation.com/ice-age-art-and-jewellery-found-in-an-indonesian-cave-reveal-an-ancient-symbolic-culture-75390 accessed 28/05/2020
Brumm, A., Langley, M.C., Hakim, B., Perston, Y., Oktaviana, A.A., Burhan, B. and Moore, M.W., (2020). Scratching the surface: engraved cortex as portable art in Pleistocene Sulawesi. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 27(3), pp.670-698.
Brumm, A., Oktaviana, A.A., Burhan, B., Hakim, B., Lebe, R., Zhao, J.X., Sulistyarto, P.H., Ririmasse, M., Adhityatama, S., Sumantri, I. and Aubert, M., (2021a). Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi. Science Advances, 7(3).
Brumm, A., Bulbeck, D., Hakim, B., Burhan, B., Oktaviana, A.A., Sumantri, I., Zhao, J.X., Aubert, M., Sardi, R., McGahan, D. and Saiful, A.M., (2021b). Skeletal remains of a Pleistocene modern human (Homo sapiens) from Sulawesi. Plos one, 16(9), p.e0257273.
Dafoe, T. (2020). These Tiny 20,000-Year-Old Artworks From Indonesia Prove That Europe Wasn’t the Only Place Art Was Being Made During the Last Ice Age. Artnet, at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/prehistoric-art-indonesia-1816671 accessed 28/05/2022
Langley, M.C., Hakim, B., Agus Oktaviana, A., Burhan, B., Sumantri, I., Hadi Sulistyarto, P., Lebe, R., McGahan, D. and Brumm, A., (2020). Portable art from Pleistocene Sulawesi. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(6), pp.597-602.
Leihitu, I. (2015). Relationship Patterns of Rock Images in Leang Uhallie ‘Pola Hubungan Gambar Cadas di Leang Uhallie’. Online at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Irsyad-Leihitu/publication/324312661_Pola_Hubungan_Gambar_Cadas_di_Leang_Uhallie/links/5aca40ecaca272abdc624db1/Pola-Hubungan-Gambar-Cadas-di-Leang-Uhallie.pdf accessed 29/05/2022
Mulyadi, Y. (2016). Distribution and Distribution of Rock Image Sites in Indonesia: Research Synthesis. ‘Distribusi dan Sebaran Situs Gambar Cadas di Indonesia: Sintesis Penelitian.’Online at:
Naica-Loebell, A. (2019) Oldest hunting painting in human history. “Älteste Jagd-Malerei der Menschheitsgeschichte” at https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Aelteste-Jagd-Malerei-der-Menschheitsgeschichte-4615480.html?seite=all accessed 20/05/2022
Oktaviana, A. (2021). We found the oldest known cave painting of animals in a secret Indonesian valley in The Conversation at: https://theconversation.com/we-found-the-oldest-known-cave-painting-of-animals-in-a-secret-indonesian-valley-153089 accessed 20.05.2022
Oktaviana, A.A., Bulbeck, D., O'Connor, S., Hakim, B., Wibowo, U.P. and St Pierre, E., (2016). Hand stencils with and without narrowed fingers at two new rock art sites in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Rock Art Research: The Journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA), 33(1), pp.32-48.
Vergano, D. (2014). Cave Paintings in Indonesia Redraw Picture of Earliest Art. National Geographic. At: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/141008-cave-art-sulawesi-hand-science accessed 30/05/2022
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