Utah People's Post

The Latest News from the Beehive State

Friday, July 1, 2022
Log in
  • National News
    • Female Caseworker Killed & Doctor Shot in Philadelphia
  • State News
    • Car Chase Leads to Drug Arrest
  • Tech & Science
  • Health
    • How to Prepare For Ticks Season
    • Magical Weight Loss Bean Scam
  • Sports
  • Business
You are here: Home / Tech & Science / Indonesian Cave Art Challenges Ideas about the Origin of Art

Indonesian Cave Art Challenges Ideas about the Origin of Art

October 9, 2014 Posted by Editor

Indonesian cave art

European cave art has long been thought to be the oldest expression of abstract thinking at humans. But cave art from Sulawesi, an Indonesian island, proves to be roughly the same age as the paintings found in the El Castillo cave, northern Spain. While the Spanish piece of art dates back to 40,800 years old, the Sulawesi stencils are believed to be at least 39,900 years old. One of the Indonesian hand stencils is in fact 2,000 years older than any European hand stencil.

The cave art from Sulawesi was discovered in 1950. According to the available instruments, researchers determined that they cannot be older than 10,000 years.

Maxime Aubert and Adam Brumm, both at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, led the study together with an Indonesian team. They thought that it’s time to use radioactive dating to have a final answer regarding the age of the Sulawesi cave paintings. By using uranium decay technique, they dated calcite, a mineral that formed a crust on top of the paintings.

“It allows us to move away from the view that Europe was special,” says Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, who led the team. “There was some idea that early Europeans were more aware of themselves and their surroundings. Now we can say that’s not true.”

Another Indonesian cave image, this time of a babirusa, or “pig deer”, is believed to be 35,400 years old, roughly the same age as its European counterparts. While European and Indonesian hands stencils share stylistic similarities, the animals have different artistic approaches. Alistair Pike, a British archeologist not involved in the findings, told Nature that the Indonesian drawings “look ‘line-y’, almost like brush strokes”, while the European ones “look dabbed, almost like finger paint.”

While art can be interesting in itself, this case brings another important question regarding our ancestors. Neanderthals are believed to have authored the European cave art pieces, but there was no Neanderthal living in Indonesia at the time. Then are Neanderthals responsible for the European cave paintings? Researchers believe that the latest finding will start a real hunt for other art forms found in caves along the way from Indonesia to Europe. They hope that the route will provide more answers to the questions regarding the occurrence of abstract thinking.

The findings were published in journal Nature on October 9.

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: cave art, cave paintings, hand stencils, Indonesia, neanderthal, Sulawesi

Woman working out at the gym

Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

United Airlines airplane

Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston

June 28, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Breakfast sandwich

Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poppy flower

UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

U.S.-Canada border

French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border

June 26, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Plus size model

Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

June 25, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Giant manta ray

Unique Manta Ray Nursery Spotted off Texas Coast

June 23, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

The rainbow flag

WHO Scraps Transgenderism from List of Mental Illnesses

June 22, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

456 People Dead at U.K. Hospital after Taking too Many Painkillers

June 21, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Kenyan girls dancing

Kenyans Facing Poor Nutrition as Supermarket Shopping Is on the Rise

June 20, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Staff
  • Terms and Conditions

Recent Posts

  • Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time
  • Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)
  • Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston
  • Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat
  • UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply
  • French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border
  • Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

Related Articles

  • Crosses on a wall

    Religious People Live Longer, Are Less Stressed than Atheists, Study

    Jun 15, 2018
  • Antineutrino Detector

    Scientists Discover an Even More Elusive Particle than Neutrinos

    Jun 5, 2018
  • Funny Albert Einstein

    Time Travel Is Already Here

    May 30, 2018
  • Planet 2003UB313

    Scientists Found Evidence that Elusive Planet 9 May Be Real

    May 18, 2018
  • Kuiper Belt Object

    This Asteroid in Kuiper Belt Is Nothing Scientists Have Seen Before

    May 11, 2018
  • Elephant raising its trunk

    Elephants Communicate with Their Feet, Scientists Confirm

    May 9, 2018
  • Starbucks store

    Black Men Settle for $1 Each after Racist Arrest at Starbucks

    May 3, 2018
  • Tech addiction

    Facebook Pioneers Forming Coalition to Lobby Against Tech Addiction

    Feb 5, 2018
  • Kaspersky Co-founder Natalia Kasperskaya

    Kaspersky Boss: Bitcoin Was Created by U.S. Govt to Fund CIA’s Black Ops

    Feb 1, 2018
  • Amazon Go shopper

    Amazon Gets Rid of Cashiers at Its Check-Out Free Store

    Jan 30, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Provo
  • Salt Lake News
  • Science
  • Sports
  • State News
  • Tech & Science
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • West Jordan
  • West Valley City
  • World

Copyright © 2022 utahpeoplespost.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Site Map · Contact