Pinturas rupestres figurativas da ilha indonésia de Sulawesi datam de pelo menos 35.000 anos atrás (ka) e arte de estêncil de mão da mesma região tem uma data mínima de 40 ka1. Aqui mostramos que arte rupestre semelhante foi criada durante essencialmente o mesmo período de tempo na ilha adjacente de Bornéu.
A análise da série de urânio dos depósitos de carbonato de cálcio que cobrem uma grande pintura figurativa laranja avermelhada de um animal em Lubang Jeriji Saléh - uma caverna de calcário em Kalimantan Oriental, Bornéu indonésio - rendeu uma data mínima de 40 ka, que para nosso conhecimento é atualmente a data mais antiga para obras de arte figurativas de qualquer lugar do mundo. Além disso, dois estênceis de mão laranja-avermelhada do mesmo local produziram uma data mínima de 37,2 ka na série de urânio, e um estêncil de terceira mão do mesmo matiz tem uma data máxima de 51,8 ka.
Também obtivemos determinações em série de urânio para motivos de arte rupestre de Lubang Jeriji Saléh e outras três cavernas cársticas de Kalimantan Oriental, que nos permitem restringir a cronologia de uma fase distinta e mais jovem da produção de arte rupestre do Pleistoceno nessa região. Estênceis de roxo escuro, alguns dos quais são decorados com motivos intricados, datam de 21 a 20 ka e uma representação rara do Pleistoceno de uma figura humana - também colorida de roxo escuro - tem uma data mínima de 13,6 ka.
Nossas descobertas mostram que a pintura rupestre apareceu no leste de Bornéu entre 52 e 40 ka e que um novo estilo de arte parietal surgiu durante o Último Máximo Glacial. É agora evidente que uma importante província de arte rupestre do Paleolítico existia na extremidade leste da Eurásia continental e no Wallacea adjacente de pelo menos 40 ka até o Último Máximo Glacial, o que tem implicações para entender como as primeiras tradições da arte rupestre emergiram, se desenvolveram e se espalharam Pleistoceno Sudeste Asiático e mais longe.
Figurative cave paintings from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi
date to at least 35,000 years ago (ka) and hand-stencil art from
the same region has a minimum date of 40ka
1
. Here we show that
similar rock art was created during essentially the same time period
on the adjacent island of Borneo. Uranium-series analysis of calcium
carbonate deposits that overlie a large reddish-orange figurative
painting of an animal at Lubang Jeriji Saléh—a limestone cave in
East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo—yielded a minimum date
of 40ka, which to our knowledge is currently the oldest date for
figurative artwork from anywhere inthe world. In addition, two
reddish-orange-coloured hand stencils from the same site each
yielded a minimum uranium-series date of 37.2ka, and a third hand
stencil of the same hue has a maximum date of 51.8ka. We also
obtained uranium-series determinations for caveart motifs from
Lubang Jeriji Saléh and three other East Kalimantan karst caves,
which enable us to constrain the chronology of a distinct younger
phase of Pleistocene rock art production in this region. Dark-
purple hand stencils, some of which are decorated with intricate
motifs, date to about 21–20ka and a rare Pleistocene depiction of a
human figure—also coloured dark purple—has a minimum date of
13.6ka. Our findings show that cave painting appeared in eastern
Borneo between 52 and 40ka and that a new style of parietal art
arose during the Last Glacial Maximum. It is now evident that a
major Palaeolithic caveart province existed in the eastern extremity
of continental Eurasia and in adjacent Wallacea from at least
40ka until the Last Glacial Maximum, which has implications for
understanding how early rock art traditions emerged, developed and
spread in Pleistocene Southeast Asia and further afield.
Since the 1990s, thousands of rock art images have been documented
in the karst caves of the Sangkulirang–Mangkalihat Peninsula in East
Kalimantan, a province in the Indonesian portion of Borneo
2–11
(P.S.,
unpublished observations) (Fig.1). This remote and difficult-to-access
region contains 4,200km
2
of karst outcrops
9,12
that are formed of late
Eocene to early Pliocene limestone
13
. The karst terrain is character-
ized by densely forested mountain chains and towering cliffs that reach
heights of several hundred metres. The Sangkulirang–Mangkalihat
Peninsula is adjacent to the edge of the Sunda Shelf—a continental
shelf that descends to about 2,500m in depth—and therefore even
during low sea-level stands in the Pleistocene, the karsts were situated
essentially at the southeastern tip of Eurasia (Fig.1). Fifty-two rock
art sites have been recorded in eight different karst mountain areas
between the Berau and East Kutai districts, spanning a distance of about
100km. The art is often found in remote, high-level caves that contain
little other evidence of human habitation. Few sites in the region have
been excavated; the oldest published archaeological remains date to
19,761 ± 87years before present (, taken as 1950; an uncalibrated
accelerator mass spectrometry
14
C date on charcoal)
14
. Previous ura
-
nium-series (U-series) and
14
C dating of a cave drapery that overlies a
hand stencil at Lubang Jeriji Saléh suggested a minimum date of about
10ka for this motif
15
(Supplementary Information).
On the basis of the superimposition of different styles, the rock art
of the Sangkulirang–Mangkalihat Peninsula comprises at least three
chronologically distinct phases
9
. The oldest style is characterized by
large in-filled, reddish-orange-coloured paintings of animals—mainly
the Bornean banteng (Bos javanicus lowi), a type of wild cattle that
is still extant on the island (Extended Data Fig.1), but also includes
what may be now-extinct taxa
16
as well as hand stencils produced
using pigment of the same distinctive hue (Extended Data Fig.1).
The second phase is dominated by hand stencils that are dark purple
(‘mulberry’) in colour, which are often clustered into distinct composi-
tions (Extended Data Fig.1). Many of these stencils are partly in-filled
with painted lines, dashes, dots and small abstract signs that possibly
represent tattoos or other marks of social identification, and in some
instances hand stencils are linked together by painted mulberry lines
that form intricate tree-like motifs, which perhaps symbolize kinship
connections. Some older reddish-orange hand stencils appear to have
been ‘retouched’ with mulberry paint to create similar in-filled designs
and tree-like motifs (Extended Data Fig.1). This phase also features
small, carefully executed mulberry-coloured paintings of anthropo-
morphs (Extended Data Fig.2). These elegant, thread-like human
figures—henceforth, ‘Datu Saman’following the established term for
this style
6
—are sometimes shown in small groups, and are usually
portrayed with elaborate headdresses and an array of other objects of
material culture that includes possible spear throwers. Some figures
are depicted in narrative scenes as hunting or pursuing small deer or as
engaged in enigmatic social or ritual activities (for example, ‘dancing’;
Extended Data Fig.2). The final rock art phase is characterized by
anthropomorphs, boats and geometric designs that are usually exe-
cuted in black pigments (Extended Data Fig.1). This rock art style is
the only one that has thus far been documented elsewhere in Borneo;
it is found at other locations in Indonesia and may be associated with
the movement of Asian Neolithic farmers into the region from about
4ka, or more recently
17,18
.
