The faint reddish hand stencil in Liang Metanduno cave on Muna island has been dated to at least 67,800 years ago, making it the oldest-known rock art. Researchers used U-series analysis of mineral layers over the pigment to establish a reliable minimum age. The stencil’s pointed finger tips reflect a distinctive Sulawesi style and suggest deliberate symbolic intent. The find supports a "long chronology" for human arrival in Australia and sheds light on early artistic behavior during human dispersal through Southeast Asia.
67,800-Year-Old Hand Stencil in Indonesian Cave Identified as World’s Oldest Rock Art
Researcher Maxime Aubert examines an ancient cave painting in a limestone cave called Liang Metanduno on Muna, a small satellite island off the southeastern peninsula of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, in this photograph released on January 21, 2026. Ahdi Agus Oktaviana/Handout via REUTERS
The faint reddish outline of a human hand on a cave wall in Liang Metanduno on Muna island, Indonesia, has been dated to at least 67,800 years ago, making it the oldest-known example of rock art in the world, researchers report. The stenciled image—produced by blowing pigment around a hand pressed to the rock—is now heavily faded but remains a compelling record of early symbolic behavior by Homo sapiens.
Investigators established a minimum age by measuring trace amounts of uranium in mineral deposits that formed on top of the pigment (U-series dating of overgrowths), a method that provides a reliable lower bound for when the artwork was produced. The new date appears in a study published in the journal Nature.
Distinctive to Sulawesi, the Liang Metanduno stencil shows deliberately altered finger tips that were shaped to appear pointed—perhaps evoking claws or other animal features. "It was almost as if they were deliberately trying to transform this image of a human hand into something else—an animal claw perhaps," said Adam Brumm of Griffith University, a co-author of the study.
The faint image of a hand stencil, a negative outline of a human hand created by placing a hand against a rock wall surface and spraying pigment paint around it, that has been dated to 67,800 years ago, in a limestone cave called Liang Metanduno on Muna, a small satellite island off the southeastern peninsula of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, in this photograph released on January 21, 2026. Maxime Aubert/Handout via REUTERS
The Muna hand predates other notable examples of ancient rock art: a Sulawesi painting at Leang Karampuang showing three humanlike figures interacting with a pig (dated to at least 51,200 years), and a hand stencil at Maltravieso Cave in Spain (around 64,000 years) that has been attributed to Neanderthals. Researchers also recorded clearer, nearly identical stencils nearby, indicating the motif was repeated rather than a single isolated act.
Beyond art history, the find has broader implications for human migration. The authors argue the artists were part of a population that moved from mainland Asia across the Indonesian islands and likely onward to Australia. Combined with recent genetic evidence, these archaeological results strengthen the "long chronology" model for the peopling of Australia, suggesting an arrival closer to 60,000–65,000 years ago rather than a later date near 50,000 years.
Liang Metanduno is a visited limestone cave better known for larger, more recent paintings generally attributed to Austronesian-speaking farming communities who arrived about 4,000 years ago. This discovery highlights how the region preserves much older artistic traditions that inform our understanding of early symbolic expression and human dispersal across Southeast Asia.
Study Published: Nature. Lead Researchers: Maxime Aubert, Adam Brumm and colleagues. Site: Liang Metanduno cave, Muna (Sulawesi), Indonesia.
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