Leang Karampuang Cave

About Leang Karampuang Cave: 

• It is a limestone cave located on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
• Key findings
  • A scene of humans interacting with a pig painted on a cave wall is found in the cave.
  • The scene, dominated by a representation of a pig that is standing upright along with three smaller human-like figures, is painted in a single shade of dark red pigment.
  • One figure seems to be holding an object near the pig’s throat. Another is directly above the pig’s head in an upside-down position with legs splayed out.
  • The third figure is larger and grander in appearance than the others; it is holding an unidentified object and is possibly wearing an elaborate headdress.
  • This painting predates the cave paintings of Europe, which is at El Castillo in Spain, dating to about 40,800 years ago.
• The researchers interpreted the painting as a narrative scene, which they said would make it the oldest-known evidence of storytelling in art.
• The earliest Sulawesi rock art is not ‘simple, it is quite advanced and shows the mental capacity of people at the time.

Q1: What is a stalagmite?

It is an upward-growing mound of mineral deposits that have precipitated from water dripping onto the floor of a cave.

Source: World’s oldest cave painting in Indonesia shows a pig and people

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