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The painting at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 in Indonesia is now dated to at least 48,000 years ago, not 44,000. It shows human-like figures and animals in an apparent interaction that researchers interpret as a possible hunting scene. A different Sulawesi painting, at Leang Karampuang, is older still at a minimum of 51,200 years and is the earlier narrative scene discussed in the studies reviewed here. Neither image reveals a plot with certainty.
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What does the painting show?
The artwork is a panel in Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4, a limestone cave in the Maros-Pangkep karst region of South Sulawesi. It brings together several human-like figures and animals identified as Sulawesi warty pigs and dwarf bovids. The figures’ apparent interaction is why researchers interpret the image as a possible hunting scene, rather than simply a collection of animal paintings. The original study described its interpretation in 2019 (Nature, 2019).
That interpretation is not the same as knowing what happened in the scene. The arrangement may indicate that the artist meant to communicate an event, but the painting cannot tell us the characters’ identities, the exact action, or the story the artist intended.
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Why is it often called 44,000 years old?
The 2019 Nature study dated a mineral crust over the painting, reporting a minimum age of 43.9 thousand years—often rounded to about 44,000. The crust formed after the pigment, so its age shows that the image is at least that old; it does not give the painting’s exact creation date.
In 2024, the study team re-dated the Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 panel and revised its minimum age to 48,000 years. The researchers used laser-ablation uranium-series imaging to map carbonate layers at fine scale and account for complex growth histories and alteration. The revised figure is still a minimum age, not a precise date for when the painting was made (Nature, 2024).
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Is it the world’s oldest story?
Not as a current record for the oldest known narrative scene. A separate composition at Leang Karampuang, also in Sulawesi, was dated in 2024 to a minimum of 51,200 years. It shows human-like figures interacting with a pig and was described by its authors as the earliest known surviving example of visual storytelling. Its action is difficult to interpret, however, and the age of a preserved image cannot establish when storytelling itself began.
The age record for cave art is a different question. A January 2026 report described a Sulawesi hand stencil dated to at least 67,800 years, calling it the oldest known cave painting. That stencil is not a narrative scene; the same report described the Leang Karampuang composition as the oldest known narrative painting. The 2026 claim is reported by Le Monde, January 2026; its primary study and methods are not detailed here.
| Artwork | What it depicts | Reported age | What the age represents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4, South Sulawesi | Human-like figures and animals in a scene interpreted as a possible hunt | Minimum 43.9 ka in the 2019 study; revised to minimum 48 ka in 2024 | A narrative-like scene; the plot remains uncertain |
| Leang Karampuang, South Sulawesi | Human-like figures interacting with a pig | Minimum 51.2 ka in the 2024 study | Described by the study authors as the earliest known surviving visual storytelling scene; the action is unclear |
| Sulawesi hand stencil | Hand stencil | At least 67,800 years, according to a 2026 Le Monde report | Reported as the oldest known cave painting, not an older narrative scene |
What can these paintings tell us about storytelling?
They are evidence that people made complex images long before recorded writing, and that some compositions show figures and animals in apparent relation to one another. That supports an interpretation of visual communication or storytelling, but it cannot reveal how long people had been telling stories orally. Words do not fossilise, and no surviving image can mark the beginning of that practice.
Adam Brumm, a co-leader of the 2024 study, said the Sulawesi scenes are noteworthy because they depict humans and animals interacting in ways that let researchers infer an intention to communicate a narrative. That is an interpretation grounded in composition, not a recovered account of what the figures are doing (Griffith University, 2024).
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