TY - JOUR
T1 - Hand stencil discoveries at Lene Hara Cave hint at Pleistocene age for the earliest painted art in Timor-Leste
AU - Standish, Christopher D.
AU - Garcia-Diez, Marcos
AU - O'Connor, Susan
AU - Oliveira, Nuno
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The distribution of known Pleistocene painted rock art in Island South-east Asia is currently limited to islands on the northern dispersal route to Australia. Here we report the discovery of at least 16 hand stencil motifs in Lene Hara Cave, Timor-Leste; a site on the alternate southern arc route. Superimposition, preservation state, differing 'canvas' materials (i.e. painted surfaces), and the location of the stencils in the internal (darker) part of the cave chamber together suggest that they represent an independent artistic phase that pre-dates the Holocene Austronesian Painting Tradition. The stencils are therefore recognised as a chronologically distinct painted rock art tradition, with a Pleistocene age considered most likely. Such findings have important implications for our understandings on the origins and spread of art in south-east Asia.
AB - The distribution of known Pleistocene painted rock art in Island South-east Asia is currently limited to islands on the northern dispersal route to Australia. Here we report the discovery of at least 16 hand stencil motifs in Lene Hara Cave, Timor-Leste; a site on the alternate southern arc route. Superimposition, preservation state, differing 'canvas' materials (i.e. painted surfaces), and the location of the stencils in the internal (darker) part of the cave chamber together suggest that they represent an independent artistic phase that pre-dates the Holocene Austronesian Painting Tradition. The stencils are therefore recognised as a chronologically distinct painted rock art tradition, with a Pleistocene age considered most likely. Such findings have important implications for our understandings on the origins and spread of art in south-east Asia.
U2 - 10.1016/j.ara.2020.100191
DO - 10.1016/j.ara.2020.100191
M3 - Article
VL - 22
SP - -
JO - Archaeological Research in Asia
JF - Archaeological Research in Asia
SN - 2352-2267
ER -