Previous dating research indicated that the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is host to some of the oldest known rock art^1-3. That work was based on solution uranium-series (U-series) analysis of calcite deposits overlying rock art in the limestone caves of Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi^1-3. Here we use a novel application of this approach-laser-ablation U-series imaging-to re-date some of the earliest cave art in this karst area and to determine the age of stylistically similar motifs at other Maros-Pangkep sites. This method provides enhanced spatial accuracy, resulting in older minimum ages for previously dated art. We show that a hunting scene from Leang Bulu' Sipong 4, which was originally dated using the previous approach to a minimum of 43,900 thousand years ago (ka)³, has a minimum age of 50.2 ± 2.2 ka, and so is at least 4,040 years older than thought. Using the imaging approach, we also assign a minimum age of 53.5 ± 2.3 ka to a newly described cave art scene at Leang Karampuang. Painted at least 51,200 years ago, this narrative composition, which depicts human-like figures interacting with a pig, is now the earliest known surviving example of representational art, and visual storytelling, in the world³. Our findings show that figurative portrayals of anthropomorphic figures and animals have a deeper origin in the history of modern human (Homo sapiens) image-making than recognized to date, as does their representation in composed scenes.

Radiocarbon dates for the ancient drawings in the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave revealed ages much older than expected. These early ages and nature of this Paleolithic art make this United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) site indisputably unique. A large, multidisciplinary dating program has recently mapped the anthropological evolution associated with the cave. More than 350 dates (by (14)C, U-Th, TL and (36)Cl) were obtained over the last 15 y. They include 259 radiocarbon dates, mainly related to the rock art and human activity in the cave. We present here more than 80 previously unpublished dates. All of the dates were integrated into a high-precision Bayesian model based on archaeological evidence to securely reconstruct the complete history of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave on an absolute timescale. It shows that there were two distinct periods of human activity in the cave, one from 37 to 33,500 y ago, and the other from 31 to 28,000 y ago. Cave bears also took refuge in the cave until 33,000 y ago.

This fourth date list for the long cultural sequence in El Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain) reports on 19 new AMS assays for Solutrean, Initial, Lower, and Middle Magdalenian and Azilian levels, ranging from about 19 to 11 uncalibrated kyr. Key results are provision of further precision on the transition between the Solutrean and Magdalenian at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the very exact dating of a Magdalenian human burial and its relationship to both major living floors and closely associated rock art in the cave.

The Cueva de Ardales is a hugely important Palaeolithic site in the south of the Iberian Peninsula owing to its rich inventory of rock art. From 2011-2018, excavations were carried out in the cave for the first time ever by a Spanish-German research team. The excavation focused on the entrance area of the cave, where the largest assemblage of non-figurative red paintings in the cave is found. A series of 50 AMS dates from the excavations prove a long, albeit discontinuous, occupation history spanning from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. The dating of the Middle Palaeolithic layers agrees with the U/Th dating of some red non-figurative paintings in the entrance area. In addition, a large assemblage of ochre lumps was discovered in the Middle Palaeolithic layers. Human visits of the cave in the Gravettian and Solutrean can be recognized, but evidence from the Aurignacian and Magdalenian cannot be confirmed with certainty. The quantity and nature of materials found during the excavations indicate that Cueva de Ardales was not a campsite, but was mainly visited to carry out non-domestic tasks, such as the production of rock art or the burial of the dead.

Archaeologists have long been puzzled by the exact age of Paleolithic cave art in Europe especially in the Franco-Cantabrian region with hundreds of decorated caves because the creation of this parietal art (paintings, drawings and engravings) is closely tied to the appearance of first modern humans in Europe and their ways of life. The Dordogne region, one of the richest regions in terms of Paleolithic cave art in the world with more than 200 cave sites, is currently known to provide figures of cave art solely made with mineral coloring matters that cannot be dated directly. Using in-situ non-invasive Raman spectroscopy combined with portable X-ray fluorescence analysis as well as visible and infrared imaging of the decor of the Font-de-Gaume cave, we show the presence of a large number of charcoal-based Paleolithic figures besides others made of iron and manganese oxides in the main galleries for the first time. The creation periods of the cave art at Font-de-Gaume are mainly attributed to the Magdalenian period and probably more complicated constituted of at least two creation phases than commonly established as shown by the direct or partial superimposition of carbon-based and iron- and/or manganese-based figures. Our new results contribute to a better understanding of the organisation of the ornamentation and thus of the imaginary language of our Prehistoric ancestors. The discovery opens new research possibilities for re-reading of the complex panels and absolute radiocarbon dating.

The uranium-thorium (U-Th) method can constrain the age of cave art by providing dates of formation of calcite deposits from on top of paintings or calcite layers on which paintings were done. It is particularly useful for art made without radiocarbon datable organic pigments or binders, or where contamination of radiocarbon samples is an issue. The U-Th method is outlined, including various sampling methods, checks for quality control, and a discussion of methods of correction for contaminating detritus. Recent applications of the method to the chronology of cave art are given, including a brief discussion of results that show cave paintings older than c. 40,000 years in both Spain and Sulawesi and their implication for the origins of cave painting.

Bruno David, Ian J. McNiven. Radiocarbon dating of rock art has been limited to only one site in India and a handful in China . Best results have been in karst environments using uranium - series ... date to the Lower Palaeolithic and ... Written by leading experts in the field, The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Rock Art showcases the latest advances in methods and theories of rock art research. This volume appeals to rock art, archaeology, and anthropology students and scholars with interests in symbolic practices and processes, visual arts, cultural heritage management, and Indigenous studies.

the paintings had been a contentious issue, since methods like radiocarbon dating can produce misleading results if contaminated by other samples, and caves In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin. Several groups of scientists suggest that the oldest of such paintings were created not by Homo sapiens, but by Denisovans and Neanderthals. Discussion around prehistoric art is important in underst The earliest known European figurative cave paintings are those of the Cave of El Castillo in Spain, which a 2012 study using uranium-thorium dated back to at least 40,000 BC. Prior to this announcement, it was believed that the oldest figurative cave paintings were those of the Chauvet Cave in France, dating to earlier than 30,000 BC in the Upper Paleolithic according to radiocarbon dating. Some researchers believe the drawings are too advanced for this era and question this age. More than 80 radiocarbon dates had been obtained by 2011, with samples taken from torch marks and from the paintings themselves, as well as from animal bones and charcoal found on the cave floor. The radiocarbon dates from these samples show that there were two periods of creation in Chauvet: 35,000 years ago and 30,000 years ago. One of the surprises was that many of the paintings were modified repeatedly over thousands of years, possibly explaining the confusion about finer paintings that seemed to date earlier than cruder ones. In Indonesia the caves in the district of Maros in Sulawesi are famous for their hand prints. About 1,500 negative handprints have also been found in 30 painted caves in the Sangkulirang area of Kalimantan; preliminary dating analysis as of 2005 put their age in the range of 10,000 years old. A 2014 study based on uranium–thorium dating dated a Maros hand stencil to a minimum age of 39,900 years. A painting of a babirusa was dated to at least 35.4 ka, placing it among the oldest known figurative depictions worldwide. In November 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known figurative art painting, over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of Lubang Jeriji Saléh on the Indonesian island of Borneo. And more recently, in 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of cave art at least 45,500 years old in Leang Tedongnge cave, Indonesia. According to the journal Science Advances, the cave painting of a warty pig is the earliest evidence of human settlement of the region. It has been reported that it is rapidly deteriorating as a result of climate change in the region. Originating in the Paleolithic period,…