How many years old is the oldest known cave painting?

History hard Data from 2021

Guess before you scroll — the answer is below

Answer in years. Shorthand like 9m or 1.2bn works.

The answer

45,500 years

Roughly 45.5K.

A painting of a wild pig on Sulawesi, Indonesia, has been dated to at least 45,500 years ago — the oldest known figurative art. It predates the famous Lascaux caves by more than 25,000 years, and it was made by people whose tools we would call primitive.

Where this number comes from

Source Brumm et al., Science Advances
Figure refers to 2021
Last checked
Unit years

Numbers move. If this one has drifted from its source, let us know.

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