Cave Paintings, a Race Against Time

Kompas/Reny Sri Ayu

Cave paintings at the Leang-Leang Prehistoric Park, Maros, South Sulawesi. Numerous examples of rock art, dating back thousands of years, can be found in caves scattered throughout the Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park.

Cave paintings in Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi, are in constant decay, which poses an ongoing challenge for archeologists. Ancient handprints in 93 caves are rotting and covered in mold. Some of the caves even housed cattle in the recent past, before people understood the value of the paintings.

Some of these caves are tens of thousands years old. The world’s oldest cave painting was found in Leang Timpuseng, a prehistoric archeological site in Tompobalang village, Kalabbirang, Bantimurung, Maros, South Sulawesi. The area is included in Leang Leang Historic Park in Maros, South Sulawesi.

Handprint cave paintings were first found in Maros by CHM Heeren Palm in Leang Pattae in 1905, three years after the cave itself was discovered by two Swiss archeologists, Fritz Sarasin and Paul Sarasin. Since then, research ramped up and 138 caves in all were discovered in the Maros-Pangkep Karst area. Of the 138 caves, 93 have handprints, as well as paintings of animals such as babirusas (a type of wild forest pig). The handprints were made by placing one\'s hand on the cave’s ceiling and blowing pigment over it.

The process of calculating the age of the paintings began in 2011. Budianto Hakim, a prehistoric archeologist at the South Sulawesi archeological agency, said the age was calculated using uranium-series dating, which compares samples of paintings from different caves and calculates the age of uranium content in the limestone layer covering the paintings. From there, the age of the paintings can be calculated.

After 2014 research proved that the cave paintings in Leang Timpuseng are the oldest in the world, at 40,080 years, another study attempted to find out more about the society that made the paintings. Excavation has been done in the area routinely before and after 2014.

Based on excavations in several caves, including Leang Timpuseng, Leang Bettue and Leang Berua, several conclusions have been made about the painters\' culture and society. One is that they were hunters, living off the local animal population. Several sites have animal bones within the caves, suggesting they had once been used as a place to stay.

Most cave paintings in Maros are handprints or images of pigs, while ones of a similar age in Spain are mostly of bison, deer and other large mammals. From these findings, experts can make educated guesses about the daily lives of the painters.

Budianto said the paintings of pigs in Leang Timpuseng did not necessarily mean that the painters had been hunters of large mammals. Instead, the paintings were a manifestation of their aspirations to capture large game; therefore, the cave paintings in Sulawesi symbolize the painters’ identity as well as their hopes and dreams.

Temporarily ceased

A few years ago, locals used some of the caves to keep livestock.

“Locals used to house cattle in these caves but they no longer do so today,” said South Sulawesi archeological agency head Irfan Mahmud.

The cave paintings in Leang Timpuseng, purportedly the oldest in the world, are found on the ceiling, some two meters above the ground. The caves are left as is. They are dusty but visitors can see the mold-covered hand paintings up close.

“We work together with locals to care for the caves,” Irfan said. Locals are tasked with cleaning the caves and providing an overview to visitors, which on holidays can be dozens of people. There has been no serious man-made damage in the caves, except for some graffiti a few years ago. Now, local residents and government are working together to remove the graffiti safely. Moreover, almost none of the caves currently house cattle.

Handprints in caves are commonly found in prehistoric sites across many regions. Apart from South Sulawesi, similar examples were also found in Jambi and Papua, and even in other countries. However, specific research by Indonesian researchers on local cave painting civilizations remains scarce. Most research is still very general and does not include comprehensive discussion on cave paintings.

Later on, after the 2014 finding in Maros that verified Indonesian cave paintings as the world’s oldest, research agencies under the government of Indonesia worked with Australia’s Griffith University to conduct more excavations and research. The focus moved from being on the cave paintings themselves to being on the painters. Excavations were done in several caves, including Leang Buttue and Leang Benura. The findings were then studied closely to add to the knowledge of the life of the cave painters.

Irfan Mahmud said the ceasing of the research team’s excavation in mid-September in Leang Bettue did not mean that the research was done. More research may prove that the prehistoric civilization in South Sulawesi, with their cave paintings, belongs to the same era as civilizations in Java and Flores.

In Indonesia, handprint cave paintings in prehistoric sites in Sumatra, Papua, Maluku and East Kalimantan are as numerous as those in South Sulawesi, and they are all sources for research on historic Indonesian civilizations.