インドネシアの洞窟絵画、世界最古の芸術と判明

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】インドネシアのスラウェシ島で２０１７年に発見された洞窟絵画が、これまで確認されているものの中で最も古い「芸術作品」だったことが分かった。研究結果が３日発表された。（写真は最古の「芸術作品」と判明した壁画。インドネシア・スラウェシ島で２０１７年に発見）
　研究の結果、大きなブタを３人が取り囲む様子が描かれた洞窟絵画の起源は、今から５万１０００年以上前にさかのぼる。狩猟シーンを描いたものとされる。
　科学誌「ネイチャー」に掲載された論文の共同執筆者、豪グリフィス大学の考古学者マキシム・オーベール氏はＡＦＰに対し、「物語性の存在を示す最古の証拠だ」と語った。新たなレーザー技術を用いて年代測定を行った結果、「初めて５万年の壁を越えた」という。
　この洞窟絵画は一部が岩の表面から剥がれ状態が悪く、描かれた人物たちが 「何をしているのかは正確には分からない」とオーベール氏は認めた。
　だがこれを描いたのは、東南アジアを通過し、約６万５０００年前にオーストラリア大陸へ渡った最初の人類集団ではないかと推測し、「さらに古いサンプルが見つかるのは時間の問題だ」と期待を寄せた。
　人類による最古の描画は、南アフリカで発見された小石片に描かれた約１０万年前のハッシュタグのような記号とされている。
　その後、インドネシアの洞窟絵画までの５万年間、人類の芸術には「大きな空白」があるとオーベール氏は述べた。
　空白を埋める発見がない理由として、他の場所で描かれた絵画などが、数万年単位の時間に耐えて残ることがなかったという説がある。もう一つは、そうした古代芸術がまだ発見されていない可能性だ。
　これまで物語性を持った人類最古の芸術は、ドイツで発見された約４万年前の「ライオンマン」と名付けられた像とされてきた。
　英ロンドン自然史博物館の人類学者クリス・ストリンガー氏は、インドネシアで発見された洞窟絵画の年代は、欧州を含む他の場所で発見されたものよりもはるかに古いため「非常に刺激的」だと述べている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/07/05-19:03）

It may not look like much -- just a flaking image of three people around a big red pig.
But the humble cave painting discovered in Indonesia is the oldest known narrative artwork ever made by human hands, dating back more than 51,000 years, new research said on Wednesday.
This is the oldest evidence of storytelling, Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist at Australia's Griffith University, told AFP.
Aubert was part of the team that identified the previous record holder in 2019, a hunting scene found in a nearby Indonesian cave then estimated to be nearly 44,000 years old.
The latest discovery, which was dated using a new laser technique, marks the first time we've passed the 50,000-year barrier, said Aubert, a co-author of a new study in Nature describing the find.
That early humans were able to tell such a sophisticated story through art could rewrite our understanding of human cognitive evolution, he added.
Our discovery suggests that storytelling was a much older part of human history... than previously thought, study co-author archaeologist Adam Brumm told a press conference.
- New laser dating -
For the discovery, the researchers used a new method that uses lasers and computer software to create a map of rock samples.
This laser ablation technique is more precise, easier, quicker, cheaper, and requires much smaller rock samples than the previous uranium series method, Aubert said.
The team first tested the new technique on the previous record holder.
It determined that the hunting scene was actually at least 48,000 years old -- 4,000 years older than the uranium series method determined in 2019.
The team then tried the laser method out on a previously undated painting first spotted in a cave on Indonesia's Sulawesi island in 2017.
It was found to to be least 51,200 years old, smashing the previous record.
The painting, which is in poor condition, shows three people around a wild pig.
We don't know exactly what they're doing, Aubert admitted.
He speculated that the paintings were likely made by the first group of humans who moved through Southeast Asia before arriving in Australia around 65,000 years ago.
It's probably just a matter of time before we find samples that are older, Aubert added.
- Art gap mystery -
Humans first evolved in Africa more than 300,000 years ago.
The first images known to have been made by humans are simple lines and patterns made in ochre found in South Africa dating back 100,000 years.
But then there is a huge gap in human art until the Indonesian cave paintings 50,000 years later, Aubert said.
The question is, why is it not everywhere?
One theory is that artwork elsewhere did not survive all those millennia. Another is that ancient art could still be out there waiting to be discovered.
Previously the first narrative art was thought to have emerged in Europe. A lion man statue found in Germany has been dated to around 40,000 years ago.
The date given for the Indonesian cave art is quite provocative because it is so much older than what has been found elsewhere, including in Europe, said Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at London's Natural History Museum.
Stringer, who was not involved in the research, said the experienced team's findings looked sound but needed to be confirmed by further dating.
In my view this find reinforces the idea that representational art was first produced in Africa, before 50,000 years ago, and the concept spread as our species spread, he told AFP.
If that is true, much new supporting evidence from other areas including Africa has yet to emerge...