A team of Indonesian and Australian archaeologists discovered the world's oldest rock art in Metanduno Cave, Muna Island, Southeast Sulawesi. In an exclusive interview with SBS Indonesia, archaeologist Shinatrya Adhityatama explained how his team found a hand stencil that was at least 67,800 years old this year.
On January 21, 2025, a team of Indonesian and Australian archaeologists announced the discovery of the world's oldest rock art: a more than 67,800 year old handstamp painting in Metanduno Cave, Muna Island, Southeast Sulawesi.
“It's amazing, because we actually didn't expect to find an old one that quickly,” said Shinatrya Adhityatama, an archaeologist at the National Research and Innovation Agency's Centre for Maritime Environment and Sustainable Culture Archaeology (BRIN), who completed his PhD at Griffith University in Australia.
The discovery is the result of a major collaboration between Indonesian and Australian researchers. The team was led by Dr. Adhi Agus Oktaviana, an Indonesian rock artist, in collaboration with Prof. Maxime Aubert of Griffith University. The discovery process began in 2015 when Dr. Adhi first discovered the painting. Sampling was done in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed testing until 2023.
To determine the age of the paintings, the team used uranium series and laser ablation methods. “We didn't take the pigment of the painting, so we didn't damage the painting. But we took the calcite rock that grew on top of the pigment of the painting,” Dr. Adhityatama said.
This rock art, Dr. Adhityatama said, was made by Homo Sapiens, who were likely ancestors of Indonesians and may be correlated with the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians.
The discovery adds to the list of globally significant Indonesian archaeological finds. In the future, the team will focus on Papua and return to Muna to search for human remains from the same period. “Now we only know the painting, but we want to look maybe we can meet people who are the same age. That would be more complete the narrative,” Dr. Adhityatama said.
Check out SBS Indonesian's full interview with Shinatrya Adhityatama for further discussion.
