The oldest ever human figurative art was recently reported. It's this evocative painting of a warty pig (Sus celebensis), found in a cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi:
I love so many things about this finding:
- Warty pigs are still living on Sulawesi and look essentially the same.
- While archaeologists have dated the painting to about 45,500 years ago (forty. five. thousand. five. hundred. years. ago!), they do not know what species of hominim painted the pig because...
- Skeletal remains of Homo sapiens dating anywhere near that old have never been found there, while other hominim remains go back more than a million years.
- The pig's coloration was made with mulberries and ochre. So next time you want to make some dye or paint with mulberries, remember that.
Mostly, I just want to run around in the streets chanting, "Warty pig! Warty pig! Warty pig!" But I will contain myself.
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