Caves in the district of Maros
| Leang Pettakere | |
Hand print paintings
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| Location | Bantimurung district |
|---|---|
| Region | South Sulawesi, Calabria, Indonesia |
| Coordinates | 5°0′11″S 119°41′40″E / 5.00306°S 119.69444°ECoordinates: 5°0′11″S 119°41′40″E / 5.00306°S 119.69444°E |
| Type | limestone karst |
| Part of | Prehistoric place Leang-Leang |
| History | |
| Material | limestone |
| Associated with | Paleo-humans |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1973 |
| Archaeologists | Ian Glover |
The Caves in the district of Maros are located in Bantimurung district (kecamatan), South Sulawesi, Indonesia. They contain paintings from the paleolithic and also the oldest hand stencil worldwide.
The Caves in the district of Maros are a cave complex, where prehistoric finds were made. The whole complex is also called "Prehistoric place Leang-Leang" – the name stems from the Makassarese language. The caves - named Pettae, Jane, Saripa, and Karrasa f. i. - consist of limestone. They are located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the town of Maros and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the city of Makassar. The entrance to the caves is located 30 metres (98 ft) above a rice field, accessible by ladder.
A hand stencil in the Leang Tempuseng cave seems to be the oldest worldwide and is estimated to be about 39,900 years old. The depiction of a babirusa is also located in this cave. It is estimated to be 35,400 years old. The art works were examined with the help of the Uranium-Thorium method of the sintering on the paintings.
Inside the entrance of the Pettakare cave, on the roof, are 26 red and white hand prints, they are not dated, yet. Primitive stencils of human hands, the white prints were executed by "placing the hand up against the wall and then blowing a mixture of red ochre and water around them, leaving a negative image on the rock". The red hand prints could have been produced by immersing the hand in a solution tinted red from "chewed-up foliage". The hand prints face both left and right. Some are missing a thumb; it was common practice to cut off a finger when an elder died. According to an official with the Makassar Center for Cultural and Heritage Preservation, the palm of the hand was believed to have power to ward off "evil forces and wild animals", thus protecting the people who lived inside the cave. In addition to the hand prints, a roughly half-meter (two-foot) long painting of a red hog deer is in the middle.
Pettakare cave's large room has several small niches, presumed to have been sleeping places for the people who lived there. The cave has a temperature of 27 °C (81 °F) during the daytime.
The caves have been known and used by the local people for a long time. Dutch archaeologists began digging at nearby caves during the 1950s, but Pettakare cave was first examined by British archaeologist Ian Glover in 1973.
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