The contemporary importance and future of Sulawesi’s ancient rock art

Abstract

In October 2014, the world learned that the oldest surviving hand stencils and rock paintings of animals were located in southern Sulawesi rather than in Europe. These results, produced using uranium-series dating methods, were the first reported Pleistocene ages for figurative rock art imagery in Island Southeast Asia. We summarise this discovery and its significance in relation to associated research on the oldest rock art of Europe before discussing future research priorities including contemporary concerns about the rock art's conservation that resulted from discussions between the authors and others in 2015. This review is relevant for rock art research not only for the greater Sulawesi region but also many other parts of the world.

First Directly Dated Rock Art in Southeast Asia and the Archaeological Implications

“…Anthropomorphs with filled-in triangular torsos, such as the one found and dated in Hermoso Tuliao to ca. 3500 cal BP, are similar to the anthropomorphs of Gua Cincin (Taha 1990), Kelantan and Gua Sireh (Datan and Bellwood 1993), Sarawak in Malaysia, and Sampeang 1, Sulawesi (Saidin et al 2008;Taçon et al 2018, Figure 1). However, direct dates have not yet been published for similar anthropomorphs found at these sites.…”

A review of Philippine rock art and its regional context

“…A 2020 updated database was used to find publications from Southeast Asia and Micronesia that included images of rock art for comparisons (Figure 9). Black pigment anthropomorphs with filled‐in triangular torsos, such as the one found and dated in Peñablanca to 3570−3460 cal BP are similar to the anthropomorphs of Gua Cincin (Taha, 1990), Kelantan and Gua Sireh (Datan & Bellwood, 1993), Sarawak in Malaysia, and Sampeang 1, Sulawesi (Taçon et al, 2018). There are also black painted anthropomorphs in Ritidian, Guam in the Mariana Islands.…”