A paan vendor in Calcutta preparing a mixture of tobacco and betel nut on a betel leaf. Alamy

Ancient teeth reveal the Ice Age origins of the world’s 4th most common addictive drug

Betel nut is the fourth most-used psychoactive drug in the world – and new evidence suggests it was being used in Indonesia as long as 25,000 years ago.
Datação com urânio de estênceis de mãos encontrados em parede de caverna indica que um deles foi feito há 67,8 mil anos atrás e é mais de 30 mil anos mais antigo que as mais antigas artes rupestres já encontradas em cavernas na Europa. Supplied

Arte rupestre mais antiga da Humanidade descoberta na Ilha de Sulawesi, na Indonésia

Pessoas já criavam arte rupestre na Indonésia há 67.800 anos, antes mesmo de os humanos modernos chegarem à Austrália.
Alat batu dari 1,04 juta tahun lalu. M.W. Moore/University of New England

Alat batu ini berusia lebih dari 1 juta tahun. Bagaimana pembuatnya bisa sampai ke Sulawesi?

Ini adalah bukti pertama bahwa manusia purba melakukan penyeberangan laut yang tangguh dari daratan utama ke Sulawesi setidaknya 1 juta tahun yang lalu.
A stone tool from 1.04 million year ago. M.W. Moore/University of New England

This stone tool is over 1 million years old. How did its maker get to Sulawesi without a boat?

It’s the first evidence that early humans made a formidable sea crossing from the mainland to Sulawesi at least 1 million years ago.
Cave art site of Leang Karampuang in the Maros-Pangkep karst area of South Sulawesi. A rock art panel on the ceiling depicting three human-like figures interacting with a wild pig dates to at least 51,200 years ago. David P. McGahan

Found in a cave in Indonesia, we can now show the world’s oldest figurative art is 51,200 years old

Figurative art presents lifelike representations of subjects. Using a new laser technique, we’ve dated figurative rock art painted 51,200 years ago.
Tim Maloney

World’s earliest evidence of a successful surgical amputation found in 31,000‑year‑old grave in Borneo

An astonishing discovery from the oldest known grave in Southeast Asia has revised medical history – the previous known amputation surgery was just 7,000 years ago.
Stone arrowheads (Maros points) and other flaked stone implements from the Toalean culture of South Sulawesi. Shahna Britton/Andrew Thomson

Who were the Toaleans? Ancient woman’s DNA provides first evidence for the origin of a mysterious lost culture

The first ancient human DNA from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi — and the wider Wallacea islands group — sheds light on the early human history of the region.
Lukisan babi kutil ini berusia lebih dari 45.500 tahun. Basran Burhan/Griffith University

Bagaimana perubahan iklim menghapus seni cadas tertua di dunia

Lukisan gua kuno baru mulai memberi tahu kita tentang kehidupan manusia purba di Australasia. Seni ini menghilang saat kita baru mencoba memahami maknanya.
This Warty Pig is part of a panel dated to more than 45,500 years in age. Basran Burhan/Griffith University

How climate change is erasing the world’s oldest rock art

The ancient cave paintings have only begun to tell us about the lives of the earliest people who lived in Australasia. The art is disappearing just as we are beginning to understand its significance.
Adegan berburu ini, dilukis 44.000 tahun yang lalu, adalah karya tertua seni representasional di dunia. Ratno Sardi, Author provided

Lukisan gua Sulawesi menunjukkan awal mula seni imajinatif dan kepercayaan spiritual manusia

Pada 44.000 tahun, gambar dari Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 di Maros-Pangkep, Sulawesi Selatan mendahului “Manusia singa” di Jerman yang diklaim berusia 40 ribu tahun.
This hunting scene, painted 44,000 years ago, is the oldest known work of representational art in the world. Ratno Sardi

Indonesian cave paintings show the dawn of imaginative art and human spiritual belief

A recent cave art discovery in remote Indonesia is changing our understanding of the beginnings of art and the emergence of religious-like thinking in the early human story.
Lukisan tokoh manusia dari Kalimantan Timur. NB: Tokoh-tokoh manusia, awalnya berwarna merah tua, telah dilacak secara digital untuk memperbesar seni ini. Pindi Setiawan, Author provided

Temuan gua Borneo: apakah gambar cadas tertua di dunia di Asia Tenggara?

Lukisan manusia purba di gua-gua di Kalimantan Timur diyakini sebagai karya seni figuratif tertua di dunia.
Paintings of human figures from East Kalimantan. NB: The human figures, originally mulberry-coloured, have been digitally traced over to enhance the art. Pindi Setiawan

Borneo cave discovery: is the world’s oldest rock art in Southeast Asia?

The cave paintings in Borneo show people and animals and are now thought to be the world’s oldest example of figurative art.

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