In Indonesia found a 44.000-year-old painting

A painting discovered on the wall of a 44.000-year-old Indonesian cave was found.

The art seems to show a buffalo being hunted by creatures that are partly human, partly animals holding spears and perhaps ropes.

Some researchers think that the scene may be the oldest story in the world.

The findings were presented in the journal Nature by archaeologists from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.

Adam Brumm - an archaeologist from Griffith - first saw the photos two years ago after a colleague in Indonesia threw a fig to reach the cave passage.

“These images appeared on my iPhone,” said Brumm. "I think I said the characteristic Australian four-letter word out loud."

The Indonesian design is not the oldest in the world. Last year, scientists claimed they found "mankind's oldest drawing" on a fragment of rock in South Africa, dating back 73.000 years.

What do the drawings show?
The drawings were found in a cave called Leang Bulu'Sipong 4 south of Sulawesi, an Indonesian island east of Borneo.

The panel is almost five meters wide and appears to show a type of buffalo called anoa, in addition to wild pigs found on Sulawesi.

Next to them are smaller figures that look human - but they also have animal features like tails and snouts.

In one section, an anoa is flanked by several figures holding spears.

“I've never seen anything like it before,” said Brumm. "I mean, we've seen hundreds of rock art sites in this region - but we've never seen anything like a hunting scene."

However, other researchers have wondered if the panel represents a single story and say it may be a series of painted images for a longer period.

"If it's a moot scene," says Paul Pettitt, an archaeologist and rock art specialist at Durham University, told Nature.

How do we know it's 44.000 years old?

The team analyzed the calcite "popcorn" that had accumulated on the painting.

The radioactive uranium in the ore slowly decays into thorium, so the team measured the levels of several isotopes of these elements.

They found that calcite on a pig started to form at least 43.900 years ago, and deposits on two buffaloes were at least 40.900 years old.

There are at least 242 caves or shelters with ancient images in Sulawesi alone - and new sites are discovered every year.

How does it compare with other prehistoric art?
It may not be the oldest design, but researchers say it may be the oldest story ever found.

"Previously, rock art found in European sites dating from around 14.000 to 21.000 years ago was considered the oldest narrative work in the world," the paper said in Nature.

Sulawesi's designs may also be the oldest animal design ever found.

Last year, a cave painting in Borneo - believed to be the oldest of an animal - was found to be at least 40.000 years old.