The Star (Star Media Group) reports on the recent government pledge to protect archaeological sites in Southeast Sulawesi, especially the cave on Muna Island where the world’s oldest rock art was discovered amid mounting concerns over environmental and tourism-related damage.
In a study published on 21st January 2026 in the journal Nature, an archaeological research team discovered a hand stencil at the Liang Metanduno cave on Muna Island possibly made some 67,800 years ago, based on a laser-ablation uranium series analysis on the calcium carbonate deposit on top of the artwork. The result makes the hand stencil the world’s oldest to be dated so far, even older than a cave painting of a pig in Maros Pangkep karst cave in South Sulawesi, which was dated at around 51,200 years old.
In the Nature study, the researchers noted that the stencil was in a 'poor state of conservation', thus Fadli declared: “The most urgent step is ensuring the site doesn’t suffer from any damage, whether from human activity or natural factors.”
Finding a balance, local authorities warned that protecting the site would require the government to take immediate steps to address infrastructural challenges. Recently, Muna Culture Agency head Hadi Wahyudi admitted that many caves around the island remain unfenced and are not monitored around the clock due to limited personnel and resources; "We also have many caretakers of the sites, but their homes are quite far from the locations. And they aren’t there 24/7.” BRIN archaeologist Adhi Agus Oktaviana, a co-author of the Nature study on the Muna rock art, also warned that dust from activities at nearby small-scale limestone mines could threaten the cave and ancient artworks inside.
In response, Minister Fadli said the government would proceed cautiously in balancing preservation and utilisation of the cave, acknowledging that climate change also posed long-term risks to karst landscapes. “We will probably see suggestions from researchers and experts, including from the cultural preservation expert team, on what we need to do, but we will certainly make this an important narrative for the early history of civilization, as well as for historical, cultural and natural tourism in that area.”
Archaeologist Maxime Aubert from Griffith University, who co-led the Muna Island study, said at the BRIN press briefing the hand stencil discovered by the team was nearly twice as old as the oldest rock art found in Europe, dated at around 35,000 years old.
→ The Rock Art of Sulawesi, Indonesia
→ Indonesian govt pledges to protect world’s oldest rock art site in Sulawesi
→ Oldest cave painting of red claw hand could rewrite human creativity timeline
→ World’s oldest rock art holds clues to early human migration to Australia
→ Humanity’s oldest known cave art has been discovered in Sulawesi
→ What The Oldest Known Cave Painting Reveals About Early Humans (And What It Doesn't)
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