sign in a cave in Laos

9 November 2018

Oldest rock art of mammal in Kalimantan

In Nov 2018 it was revealed that the oldest animal drawing has been found in a cave in East Kalimantan. In Lubang Jeriji Saléh there are 3 cow-like creatures drawn on the walls and dated to 40,000. This makes them older than the babirusa drawings from Maros in Sulawesi, which are about 35,000 years old.


The drawings in Kalimantan are thought to be of banteng. Banteng, also known as tembadau, (Bos javanicus) is a species of wild cattle found in Southeast Asia. I have never seen one in the wild. They have been domesticated in places.

Also in the cave are many hand prints, dated at 52,000 – 40,000 years. See article in Nat Geog Nov 2018, and Nature.