Figurative cave art
Arte rupestre figurativo
- Date
- c. 51 ka · confidence medium
- Place
- Leang Karampuang and Leang Tedongnge, Maros-Pangkep, Sulawesi, Indonesia
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Narrative scenes of human figures and warty pigs painted with ochre, dated by uranium-thorium to over 51,000 years ago. The earliest representation of stories in images.
Negative hand stencils and signs at Ardales, Maltravieso and La Pasiega (Spain, c. 65 ka) are attributed to Neanderthals, though the dating is disputed. Europe (Chauvet, El Castillo) from c. 40 ka onward: independent invention on several continents.
What it led to
- Visual storytelling: transmission of myths and ecological knowledge
- Sanctuaries and sacred spaces: religious geography
- Representation of hybrid beings: mythical thought
- The origin of the image as a technology of collective memory
Built on
- Ochre pigment usec. 300 ka
- Ochre-processing workshop (paint compound)c. 100 ka
- Abstract geometric engraving on ochrec. 75 ka
- Ochre pigment use
- Ochre-processing workshop (paint compound)
- Abstract geometric engraving on ochre
Made possible
- Figurative ivory sculpturec. 40 ka
- Engraved stone mapc. 13.7 ka
- Figurative ivory sculpture
- Engraved stone map