Archaeologists discover prehistoric rock paintings<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): A team of archaeologists said on Friday they
\nhad uncovered 11 new caves with more than 500 prehistoric
\nhandprints, paintings and other rock art in Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The discovery of 375 handprints in one cave was \"one of the
\nmost important finds\" of the expedition, said Frenchman Luc-Henri
\nFage, one of the mission's leaders who presented their findings
\nat a media conference here.<\/p>\n
Another team leader, Jean-Michel Chazine, said the team found
\n11 caves with such handprints in the last five years. They
\ndiscovered 11 more during their latest trip to Kalimantan's
\nlimestone mountains from May 23 to June 20, he said.<\/p>\n
This was the team's eighth trip to Kalimantan. The prehistoric
\npaintings were first discovered in 1994 by Chazine and Fage.<\/p>\n
The month-long expedition saw four French and one Indonesian
\nexplorer covering 25 caves in a cliff called Gunung Marang. They
\nhope to return next January with more colleagues.<\/p>\n
The handprints, dating back more than 10,000 years, cover
\nwalls at the entrances of the caves and stretch across the walls
\nand ceilings inside.<\/p>\n
They are mostly negative prints created by blowing red or
\norange dye over the hand and creating an outline of it.
\nSome are also decorated with dots, lines and curves that link one
\nhandprint to another. Both adult and child-sized prints were
\nfound.<\/p>\n
While the symbolism is still unclear, Chazine said that he
\nthought they were probably important to the initiation, healing
\nand other spiritual rituals of the prehistoric communities.<\/p>\n
The team also found primitive paintings of human figures
\ndancing and wearing what appear to be special masks or head
\ndresses.<\/p>\n
More importantly, these figurative paintings were painted over
\nsome of the eroded handprints and suggest that they are younger
\nthan the handprints.<\/p>\n
Other rock paintings of prehistoric mammals as well as broken
\nceramics, dating back up to 8,000 years and decorated with shell
\ncarvings, were also unearthed.<\/p>\n
With much of the rock art eroded by the elements, the team is
\nconcerned about their preservation.<\/p>\n
\"The conservation of the paintings is very bad due to the
\nexcess of light they receive and the development of what seems to
\nbe bacteria eating the limestone,\" they said in a press
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
There are fears the situation could worsen with the Indonesian
\nMinistry of Culture and Tourism hoping to develop the caves into
\nattractions.<\/p>\n
But Chazine said that the inaccessibility of the region would
\nkeep tourists away for at least 10 years.<\/p>\n
He added that the task at hand was to educate the locals not
\nto destroy the caves and their surrounding forest.<\/p>",
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