JUNE 8, 2017

The oldest 'Portrait' of Man is
a 39,900 old Cave Hand Stencil from Sulawesi, Indonesia!

The earliest known 'portrait of man' is a hand stencil found in the Cave of Pettakere (Sulawesi, Indonesia), discovered in 2014. The hand prints have been made by early artists carefully blowing paint around hands that were pressed tightly against the cave walls and ceilings.

Australian and Indonesian scientists have been able to date the age of the hand prints through layers of stalactite-like growths that have formed in time over the coloured outlines of human hands.

Dr Maxime Aubert (Griffith University in Queensland, Australia) dated the paintings found in Maros in Southern Sulawesi and explained that one of them (shown immediately below) was probably the earliest of its type.

"The minimum age for (the outline of the hand) is 39,900 years old, which makes it the oldest hand stencil in the world," said Dr Aubert.
The oldest portrait of man: a 39,900 old Cave Hand Stencil from Sulawesi, Indonesia!

At the top is a faint outline of a human hand;
below is the earliest depiction of an animal (source: BBC).
"Next to it is a pig that has a minimum age of 35,400 years old, and this is one of the oldest figurative depictions in the world, if not the oldest one," he told BBC News.

Interestingly, there are also paintings in the caves that are around 27,000 years old, which means that the inhabitants were painting for at least 13,000 years.


NOTICE: The materials below include cave handprints from Indonesia, Spain & France; the final video also faces the question: 'who are responsible for the cave paintings in Europe: early modern humans arriving in Europe... or Neanderthals, who lived in Europe to about 30,000 years ago?'

Archaeologist and geochemist Maxima Aubert showing cave artworks in a rural area on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi.
Maxima Aubert showing cave artworks in a rural area on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi.




Youtube video describing Maxima Aubert's cave artwork discoveries
at the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi:





Brian Cox staring at a child's hand print made at least 35.000 years ago in Cantabria Cave, Spain.
Brian Cox staring at a child's hand print made at least 35.000 years ago in Cantabria Cave, Spain.


Brian Cox visits Europe's oldest known cave paintings - Human Universe: Episode 5 Preview - BBC Two.





Portrait of man from Europe: a 32.000 year old hand print found in Chauvet Cave, France.
The oldest portrait of man from Europe: a 32.000 year old hand print found in Chauvet Cave, France.


Report from caves in Spain: 'who are responsible for the cave paintings in Europe:
early modern humans arriving in Europe... or Neanderthals?'


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