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That work was based on solution uranium-series (U-series) analysis of calcite deposits overlying rock art in the limestone caves of Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi\n                    <jats:sup>1\u20133<\/jats:sup>\n                    . Here we use a novel\u00a0application of this approach\u2014laser-ablation U-series imaging\u2014to re-date some of the earliest cave art in this karst area and to determine the age of stylistically similar motifs at other Maros-Pangkep sites. This method provides enhanced spatial accuracy, resulting in older minimum ages for previously dated art. We show that a hunting scene from Leang Bulu\u2019 Sipong 4, which was originally dated using the previous approach to a minimum of 43,900\u2009thousand years ago (ka)\n                    <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>\n                    , has a minimum age of\u00a050.2\u2009\u00b1\u20092.2 ka, and so is at least 4,040 years older than thought. Using the imaging approach, we also assign a minimum age of 53.5\u2009\u00b1\u20092.3\u2009ka to a newly described cave art scene at Leang Karampuang. Painted at least 51,200 years ago, this narrative composition, which depicts human-like figures interacting with a pig, is now the earliest known surviving example of representational art, and visual storytelling, in the world\n                    <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>\n                    . Our findings show that figurative portrayals of anthropomorphic figures and animals have a deeper origin in the history of modern human (\n                    <jats:italic>Homo sapiens<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) image-making than recognized to date, as does their representation in composed scenes.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-024-07541-7","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,3]],"date-time":"2024-07-03T12:10:10Z","timestamp":1720008610000},"page":"814-818","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":74,"title":["Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"631","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9140-497X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adhi Agus","family":"Oktaviana","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0452-486X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Renaud","family":"Joannes-Boyau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Budianto","family":"Hakim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9172-5888","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Basran","family":"Burhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ratno","family":"Sardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shinatria","family":"Adhityatama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"family":"Hamrullah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iwan","family":"Sumantri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"M.","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rustan","family":"Lebe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Imran","family":"Ilyas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdullah","family":"Abbas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andi","family":"Jusdi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-1595-8683","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dewangga Eka","family":"Mahardian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2098-8496","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sofwan","family":"Noerwidi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marlon N. 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