3 December 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

Climate Change Negatively Impacts 45 000-year-old Cave Paintings in Indonesia

Cave paintings from 20,000 to 50,000 years ago in Indonesia are in danger of extinction due to climate change.

Indonesia is expected to see a temperature rise of around 0.8°C as a result of climate change by 2030. Furthermore, rainfall trends are expected to change, with the rainy season ending sooner and the duration of the rainy season shortening.

According to the report, which covered the last four centuries, degradation has intensified over the past four decades as increased greenhouse gas pollution from human activity changed the world’s atmosphere, especially in the tropics. A rise in global surface temperatures of 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century—scientists’ ambitious scenario for global warming—would have serious consequences for the survival of rock art.

These changes seem to be both economically challenging and culturally upsetting.

Researchers led by archaeologist Jillian Huntley said in a paper published in Nature on Thursday that seasonal rainfall, combined with the drought, is threatening the survival of cave art in the Maros-Pangkep site on the island of Sulawesi. The region is home to the oldest recorded hand stencil as well as the probably earliest narrative scene in prehistoric history.

“In almost all sites containing early art, the hand stencils and figurative motifs are heavily affected by exfoliation of the limestone cave wall and ceiling surfaces that comprise the artists’ ‘canvas,’” the authors wrote. “A mounting body of quantitative and anecdotal evidence suggests that the rate of exfoliation is increasing.”

The paintings in Leang Tedongnge cave depict the Sulawesi warty pig, a species commonly featured in Indonesian rock art.
The paintings in Leang Tedongnge cave depict the Sulawesi warty pig, a species commonly featured in Indonesian rock art.

If the atmosphere heats and cools, the crystal salts on the rocks extend and compress, putting pressure on the paintings. That pressure can cause cracks or even lift flakes, separating them from the surface, a phenomenon known as exfoliation. The artworks’ deterioration is exacerbated by their location in the Australasian monsoon domain, the world’s most atmospherically volatile area.

The preservation of paintings discovered in the Maros-Pangkep region in the 1950s is of paramount importance as it is one of the oldest testimonies of prehistoric art in the world. With more than 300 caves discovered so far and new caves discovered every year, it rivals the ice age cave art in Western Europe.

It constitutes a “unique and irreplaceable record of early human artistic culture in a little-understood region,” the researchers said.

Earlier works are mulberry and red hand stencils of mostly wildlife, while more recent work is in black charcoal and contains brief depictions of human beings, domesticated animals like dogs, geometric and abstract symbols. One scene seems to depict many human figures drawing various creatures toward a waiting hunter, which historians claim is the earliest record of hunting strategy.

Source: Bnnbloomberg

Cover Photo: Figurative imagery found in a cave in Indonesia has been dated to 43,900 years ago, which is significantly older than comparable art from Europe. Photo: Adhi Agus Oktaviana

Related Articles

Roman Bath Complex Found under Spain’s Caños de Meca beach

22 May 2021

22 May 2021

A well-preserved ancient Roman bath complex emerged from the sand of a beach in the Andalusian region of southwestern Spain....

Women May Have Ruled El Algar in the Bronze Age

12 March 2021

12 March 2021

The diadem found in the Bronze Age tomb belonging to the El Algar culture may have belonged to a queen....

Sacred Hill of Moon God Sin “Sogmatar”

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Sogmatar, Şanlıurfa is 53 kilometers from Harran. It is located in Yağmurlu village, where there are important springs in the...

In the city of Gods and Goddesses Magnesia, Zeus Temple’s entrance gate found

26 September 2021

26 September 2021

During an excavation in the ancient city of Magnesia, located in the Ortaklar district of Germencik in Turkey’s Aegean province...

19 funerary tombs from Roman times were discovered in Tartus, Syria

27 May 2022

27 May 2022

During search and excavation operations in the archaeological area of Amrit in Tartus, Syria, a joint excavation team from the...

46 Eagles in vivid color revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling

15 May 2022

15 May 2022

A joint German/Egyptian archaeological mission at the Temple of Esna on the west bank of the Nile, 35 miles south...

Roman-era marble sundial found for the first time in Turkey’s second Ephesus

26 September 2022

26 September 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman-era marble sundial in the ancient city of Aizanoi in the Çavdarhisar district of Kütahya province...

1,800-year-old Bronze military medal with Medusa head found in southeastern Turkey

5 October 2022

5 October 2022

A military medal believed to be almost 1,800 years old has been found by archaeologists in Turkey. The discovery was...

Knights-era painting found behind bricked-up arch at Museum of Archaeology in Malta

30 November 2021

30 November 2021

A newly found Knights-era painting hidden behind a bricked-up arch at the Museum of Archaeology might give insight into the...

30 Graves Found in the Basilica-Planned Ancient City

4 April 2021

4 April 2021

Kibyra ancient city is situated south of Turkey, located in the town Gölhisar in the southwestern part of Burdur Province,...

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

23 March 2023

23 March 2023

Significant prehistoric rock art has been discovered in La Febro, in southwestern Catalonia. The team that discovered the art inside...

When the waters receded, the mounds of Pulur Sakyol and Yeniköy, bearing the traces of Kura-Aras Culture, came to light

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

The important cultural areas of Pulur Sakyol and Yeniköy mounds, which bear the traces of Kura-Aras Culture, represented by kurgans...

Researchers have found in miniature ceramic bottles evidence of the oldest known use of cosmetics in the Balkans

14 July 2021

14 July 2021

In miniature ceramic bottles from excavations ascribed to the Lasinja Culture in the Southeast Prealps and the Vinča Culture in...

409 silver coins, found in the Mleiha area of Sharjah, were inspired by Alexander the Great and the Seleucid dynasty

17 July 2021

17 July 2021

409 silver coins dating to the 3rd century have been found in the Mleiha area of Sharjah in the United...

Traces of fossilized crabs in the Zagros Mountains, Iran which may hint at a hotbed of biodiversity dating from 15 million years

18 April 2022

18 April 2022

A group of paleontologists from the  University of Tehran has discovered traces of fossilized crabs in the Iranian which may...