February 20, 2026 | 04:18 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Adhi Agus Oktaviana's eleven-year curiosity has finally been satisfied. A hand stencil he discovered on the ceiling of the Liang Metanduno karst cave on Muna Island, Southeast Sulawesi, has been crowned the oldest rock art in the world. The Muna hand stencil is a thousand years older than the previous record-holder in the Maltravieso Cave in Caceres, western Spain. Adhi, a researcher with the National Research and Innovation Agency's (BRIN) Center for Archaeometry, stumbled upon the cave painting while working on a project for the book Prehistoric Rock Art in Indonesia.
In 2015, Adhi and his team trekked through the karst areas of Liangkabori Village in Lohia Subdistrict, Muna Regency. His initial goal was simply to document rock art for the book and its accompanying documentary. However, one question kept gnawing at him. "Why have hand stencils been found in other caves like Liang Pominsa, while none have been found in a large cave like Liang Metanduno?" Adhi said at his office at the National Archaeological Research Center in Jakarta on Friday, January 23, 2026.
The finding of Adhi and his team, published in the journal Nature on January 21, 2026, shows that the rock art in Liang Metanduno was created at least 67,800 years ago. The age was determined using the uranium-series dating method with laser ablation (LA-U-series) on a thin layer of calcium carbonate formed over the ochre.
The LA-U-series method was developed by Adhi's colleagues, Maxime Aubert from the Griffith Centre of Social and Cultural Research (GCSCR), Griffith University, Australia, and Renaud Joannes-Boyau from Southern Cross University, Australia. This dating method is used for objects that are significantly older—up to 500,000 years—whereas radiocarbon dating (which measures the decay of the carbon-14 isotope) is generally only effective up to 50,000 years ago.
World's Oldest Rock Art Found in Indonesia: Sulawesi Is Home to Most Enduring Art
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The age of the rock art on Muna Island, Southeast Sulawesi, is estimated at least 67,800 years.
Indonesia Designates World's Oldest Rock Art in Sulawesi as Cultural Heritage
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The rock art in the Metanduno Cave in Muna Regency is 67,800 years old, making it older than the Maros cave rock art.
