World's oldest known artwork in Indonesian cave dated using lasers
Briefly

The recent findings indicate that the ancient cave painting from Sulawesi, Indonesia, is approximately 51,200 years old, functioning as the earliest known example of representational art. This significantly pushes back the timeline for when humans first began creating narrative imagery, suggesting that the origin of human storytelling and artistic expression may be far older than previously thought.
By utilizing laser-induced imaging of radioactive elements, researchers were able to accurately determine the age of this cave painting, challenging the reliability of previous dating methods. This technological advancement not only provides crucial insights into the methodologies for dating such ancient artworks but also raises significant questions about the evolution of human creativity and cultural expression throughout history.
Read at Nature
[
|
]