(p. A17) A team of researchers reported in the journal Nature on Wednesday [October 8, 2014] that paintings of hands and animals in seven limestone caves on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi may be as old as the earliest European cave art.
. . .
The researchers said the earliest images, with a minimum age of 39,900 years, are the oldest known stenciled outlines of human hands in the world. Blowing or spraying pigment around a hand pressed against rock surfaces would become a common practice among cave artists down through the ages — . . .
For the full story, see:
JOHN NOBLE WILFORD. “Paintings in Indonesia May Predate Oldest Known Cave Art.” The New York Times (Thurs., OCT. 9, 2014): A17.
(Note: ellipses, and bracketed date, added.)
(Note: the online version of the story has the date OCT. 8, 2014, and has the title “Cave Paintings in Indonesia May Be Among the Oldest Known.”)