Over 50,000 years ago on what is now the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, someone climbed a towering rock formation and painted a mysterious image on a cave ceiling. The painting shows three half-human, half-animal figures and a large wild pig. The image, dated to 51,200 years old, is now the oldest known visual story in the world. In this episode, archaeologist Adam Brumm shares the story of this incredible discovery.

Help make more Origin Stories. We're $3,000 short of our quadruple-match fundraising goal and our deadline is August 31! Please donate today and your gift will be quadruple-matched! Click here to 4x your donation!

Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach.

Links to learn more:

• Google Arts and Culture virtual tour of the cave art site
• Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago Nature, July 2024
• Adam Brumm's website
• Blog post by Adhi Oktaviana

Episode produced by Meredith Johnson and Ray Pang Sound design by Ray Pang Edited by Audrey Quinn

Theme music by Henry Nagle. Ending credit music by Lee Roservere. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Hungry for more science?

Lunch Break Science is The Leakey Foundation's web series featuring short talks and interviews with Leakey Foundation grantees. Episodes stream on the third Thursday of every month.

Click here to watch!