67,800-Year-Old Hand Stencil Is World's Oldest Art, Redrawing Humans' Path to Australia
Archaeologists report what may be the oldest surviving artwork, a hand stencil on a Sulawesi cave wall dating to about 67,800 years ago (calcite overgrowth suggests the imprint is older). Found among 44 surveyed sites in Maros-Pangkep, Liang Metanduno’s stencil marks the earliest known modern-human presence in Wallacea and implies long-distance seafaring that could have reached Australia earlier than some estimates, highlighting a region with a deep, ongoing artistic tradition.