Archaeologists found a very old cave painting in Indonesia. It is on Muna Island. This painting is a handprint made with a stencil. Scientists think it is at least 67,800 years old. This is much older than other known paintings. It shows art started earlier than we thought.
Researchers from Indonesia and Australia studied the painting. They used special methods to find its age. They found that the painting is 11,000 years older than one in Spain. This new discovery changes what we believed about art. People thought art began in Europe during the Ice Age.
Professor Adam Brumm said this changes our understanding. He learned that human creativity started in Europe. However, more art is found in Indonesia. This makes the old idea seem wrong. The handprint was made by spraying colour around a hand. The way the fingers are shown means something. Ancient people had deep thoughts.
The cave is called Liang Metanduno. It has other art too. There is a picture with people and a pig. It is at least 51,200 years old. Another picture shows a person riding a horse with a chicken. This is confusing for scientists. Archaeologist Adhi Agus Oktaviana started exploring the caves in 2015.
This discovery is important for migration too. It suggests people moved to Australia and New Guinea earlier. *Homo sapiens* had creative minds from the start. Professor Maxime Aubert said dating art gives new views. It helps us understand ancient people's minds.
The finding was published in *Nature* magazine. It makes us rethink human evolution. It shows art and thinking were always part of us. The handprint shows humans have always wanted to create. This has been true for a very long time.