BRIN Researcher Uncovers World's Oldest Hand Stencil, 67,800 Years Old

Dr. Adhi Agus Oktaviana of Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) recounted the research journey of the world’s oldest hand stencil, which began in 2012 when contacted by Kompas.com on Tuesday, 26 May 2026. Recently, Guinness World Records recognised the hand stencil at Liang Metanduno on Muna Island, Southeast Sulawesi, as the world’s oldest non-figurative artwork. Looking back to 2012, Adhi recounted his involvement in a research collaboration in Sulawesi with Australian National University (ANU). A year later, he joined a study with Griffith University led by Professors Maxime Aubert and Adam Brumm in the Maros-Pangkep region of South Sulawesi. During this process, the young researcher learned uranium-series dating techniques for cave wall paintings from Professor Maxime. Adhi then participated in sampling at various sites, including Liang Timpuseng. ‘I was fortunate to learn from Professor Maxime Aubert how to take samples of cave paintings covered by coralloid for uranium-series dating,’ he said. While exploring the Liang Metanduno site, Adhi discovered hand stencils previously not widely documented in research literature. ‘In 2015, I went there with them to check Metanduno out of curiosity because the information said there were no hand stencils, and previous literature also didn’t mention any,’ Adhi said. The findings were later presented by Adhi at a Sulawesi archaeology conference at ANU in 2015 regarding hand stencils on Muna Island, and published in 2018. In 2019, Adhi, along with Professor Maxime Aubert and others, collected samples of paintings at Liang Metanduno.