JAKARTA, January 23, 2026 — A hand stencil, potentially 67,800 years old, discovered in a cave on Muna Island in Indonesia, could rewrite the story of early human artistic expression and migration. That’s if researchers are correct—and it’s a big “if” when dealing with timelines stretching back millennia.
Ancient Art Hints at Early Human Journey Through Indonesia
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New findings on Muna Island suggest humans may have possessed sophisticated artistic skills far earlier than previously thought.
- A hand stencil found in Liang Metanduno cave on Muna Island may be at least 67,800 years old.
- The art features a uniquely narrowed fingertip, a characteristic not seen elsewhere in the world.
- The discovery adds to growing evidence of early human migration through Sulawesi toward Australia.
- Researchers are debating whether the art was created by Homo sapiens or another archaic human species, like Denisovans.
Sulawesi, the world’s 11th largest island, gained attention in 2024 with the discovery of the oldest known dated cave painting—a depiction of a wild pig in Maros Pangkep, South Sulawesi—believed to be around 51,200 years old. But this new find, located roughly 300 kilometers away, could push that date back significantly.
A Unique Fingerprint on the Past
Archaeologist Adhi Agus Oktaviana, from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), has been exploring Muna Island since 2015, searching for evidence of ancient hand stencils. He eventually located several, including one in the Liang Metanduno cave, partially obscured by more recent paintings. “The discussion with my mentor was quite lengthy. We didn’t agree whether these marks were hand stencils,” Adhi said. “But I finally found some spots that looked like human fingers.”
What sets this stencil apart isn’t just its potential age, but a peculiar detail: the tip of one finger appears deliberately narrowed, possibly through the application of additional pigment or a subtle movement during painting. “As far as I know, it’s the only place in the world where there’s rock art like that. So we’re not sure how they do it,” said archaeologist Maxime Aubert from Griffith University in Australia, who co-led the study, published in Nature on Wednesday.
A: Researchers estimate the hand stencil found on Muna Island to be at least 67,800 years old, potentially making it significantly older than the previously known oldest cave painting in Sulawesi, which is around 51,200 years old.
Archeologist Adhi Agus Oktaviana from the National Research and Innovation Agency is seen inspecting a rock art at a cave on Muna Island in South Sulawesi in August 2019.
Dating the Past
To determine the painting’s age, Adhi carefully collected a small sample of the rock surface. Archaeologists Renaud Joannes-Boyau from Southern Cross University, also in Australia, and Aubert then used uranium series analysis to examine the mineral deposits layered above the pigment, which was created using ocher. “When you’re dealing with such a period so far back in time, even having a minimum age is very, very important for us,” said archaeologist Adam Brumm from Griffith University, a co-author of the study. “It would be wonderful to know exactly when it was made. But with the limits of the current dating technology, we just can’t tell.”
Paleoanthropologist John Hawks from University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was not involved in the research, praised the team’s consistent methodology. “When you’re using the same approach, you know that this isn’t a special approach that was developed for just one site,” Hawks said. “This is an approach that is capable of finding the accurate ages at whatever site. And the oldest one in this study happens to be really extraordinary.”
Who Were the Artists?
While the dating method is solid, the identity of the artists remains a subject of debate. Human evolution researcher Dino Mozardien questioned whether the stencil was necessarily created by early Homo sapiens. “The researchers argued the technique used to make the stencil was complicated. But it’s actually the same between the one used by Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens,” Mozardien said. He also questioned how the narrowed fingertip could be discerned given the faded pigment.
Mozardien proposed that the art might be the work of Denisovans, an archaic human subspecies that inhabited Asia between 200,000 and 32,000 years ago, possessing a similar morphology to Homo sapiens.
The faded hand stencil that is dated at least 67,800 years old is pointed by a color palette chart held by the archaeologist during an expedition at the Liang Metanduno cave on Muna Island, Southeast Sulawesi in May 2019.
Regardless of who created it, Aubert emphasized that the painting demonstrates the cognitive abilities of early human species. Brumm added that the findings shed light on the timing and route of early human migration to Australia via the Sahul paleo continent. Adhi concurred, stating that the art provides further evidence of this migration through Sulawesi. “It also shows that our ancestors were not only great sailors,” Adhi said, “but also artists.”
