A handout photo released on November 7, 2018 by the Nature Publishing Group shows the world's oldest figurative artwork from Borneo dated to a minimum of 40.000 years. - The limestone caves of Borneo’s East Kalimantan province contain thousands of rock art images, grouped into three phases: red-orange paintings of animals (mainly wild cattle) and hand stencils; younger, mulberry-coloured hand stencils and intricate motifs, alongside depictions of humans; and a final phase of human figures, boats and geometric designs in black pigment. However, the exact timing of these works had been unclear. (Photo by Luc-Henri FAGE/KALIMANTHROPE.COM / NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NATURE / LUC-HENRI FAGE/KALIMANTHROPE.COM" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO ARCHIVE
In case you missed it, Australian and Indonesian scientists have found the world's oldest known figurative art: a red silhouette of a bull-like beast on the wall of a cave in Borneo. The cave painting is at least 40,000 years old, slightly older than similar animal drawings found in famous caves in France and Spain.
Until a few years ago, experts believed Europe was where our ancestors started drawing animals and other figures. But the age of the paintings reported on Nov 7 in the journal Nature, along with previous discoveries in Southeast Asia, suggest that cave art appeared in both continents about the same time.
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