Jakarta, Indonesia

Dating back to nearly 51,200 years ago, the oldest artwork created by a human has been found in the caves of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia and its subject is an animal - a pig. 

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The walls of the cave have hosted the painting for thousands of years, which have a flaking image of three human-like figures and a pig.

With the help of cutting-edge techniques, scientists have now realised that these depictions are the oldest known figurative and narrative examples of art ever found in the world and date back to at least 51,200 years ago. 

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"This narrative composition, which depicts human-like figures interacting with a pig, is now the earliest known surviving example of representational art, and visual storytelling, in the world," stated a team of archaeologists, headed by Adhi Agus Oktaviana and Maxime Aubert of Griffith University in Australia.

"Our findings show that figurative portrayals of anthropomorphic figures and animals have a deeper origin in the history of modern human (Homo sapiens) image-making than recognised to date, as does their representation in composed scenes," he added. 

Findings tell storytelling was part of human history from ancient time

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The treasured ancient cave art of Sulawesi was never hidden from the archaeologists.

The team, which included Aubert, in 2019 Leang Bulu' Sipong 4 in the cave which was nearly 43,900 years old.

After two years, they discovered this cave painting in Sulawesi which took the title of being the oldest on record.

"This is the oldest evidence of storytelling," said Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist at Australia's Griffith University, while speaking to AFP.

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It was dated with the help of a new laser technique and marks "the first time we've passed the 50,000-year barrier," he said, in the study.

While speaking at a press conference, study co-author archaeologist Adam Brumm said, "Our discovery suggests that storytelling was a much older part of human history...than previously thought."

“We, as humans, define ourselves as a species that tells stories, and these are the oldest evidence of us doing that,” said study Aubert, in an email to CNN. 

(With inputs from agencies)