Reverted Good faith edits by ~2026-58194-24 (talk): https://www.grammarly.com/commonly-confused-words/leach-vs-leech (WS)← Previous revisionRevision as of 02:21, 2 November 2026 Line 18: Line 18: "using uranium-series dating of coralloid speleothems directly associated with 12 human hand stencils and two figurative animal depictions from seven cave sites in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, we show that rock art traditions on this Indonesian island are at least compatible in age with the oldest European art. The earliest dated image from Maros, with a minimum age of 39.9 kyr, is now the oldest known hand stencil in the world. In addition, a painting of a [[Babirusa|babirusa ('pig-deer')]] made at least 35.4 kyr ago is among the earliest dated figurative depictions worldwide, if not the earliest one. Among the implications, it can now be demonstrated that humans were producing rock art by ~40 kyr ago at opposite ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world." The oldest [[Rock art|rock painting]] is however not found in a cave but was found in a South African excavation site. The hand-drawn lines on the small piece of rock are dating back 73,000 years. "using uranium-series dating of coralloid speleothems directly associated with 12 human hand stencils and two figurative animal depictions from seven cave sites in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, we show that rock art traditions on this Indonesian island are at least compatible in age with the oldest European art. The earliest dated image from Maros, with a minimum age of 39.9 kyr, is now the oldest known hand stencil in the world. In addition, a painting of a [[Babirusa|babirusa ('pig-deer')]] made at least 35.4 kyr ago is among the earliest dated figurative depictions worldwide, if not the earliest one. Among the implications, it can now be demonstrated that humans were producing rock art by ~40 kyr ago at opposite ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world." The oldest [[Rock art|rock painting]] is however not found in a cave but was found in a South African excavation site. The hand-drawn lines on the small piece of rock are dating back 73,000 years. However, all these age estimates, which are based on [[uranium-lead dating]], have been contested, because they do not account for the potential for leeching of uranium, which if not accounted for would artificially skew the date for the cave paintings too old.Sauvet G. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/403118667_Uranium-thorium_dating_the_race_towards_the_earliest_rock_art_Volume_2_Issue_1_-2026 Uranium-thorium dating: the race towards the earliest rock art]. AOJ Hist Archaeol Anthropol Explor. 2026;2(1):13–15. However, all these age estimates, which are based on [[uranium-lead dating]], have been contested, because they do not account for the potential for leaching of uranium, which if not accounted for would artificially skew the date for the cave paintings too old.Sauvet G. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/403118667_Uranium-thorium_dating_the_race_towards_the_earliest_rock_art_Volume_2_Issue_1_-2026 Uranium-thorium dating: the race towards the earliest rock art]. AOJ Hist Archaeol Anthropol Explor. 2026;2(1):13–15. [[File:Cueva del Castillo interior.jpg|thumb|left|Inside of the Cave of El Castillo in [[Puente Viesgo]], [[Cantabria]] (Spain). Dating back to 40,000 BC, El Castillo hosts the earliest figurative cave painting in Europe known to date.]] [[File:Cueva del Castillo interior.jpg|thumb|left|Inside of the Cave of El Castillo in [[Puente Viesgo]], [[Cantabria]] (Spain). Dating back to 40,000 BC, El Castillo hosts the earliest figurative cave painting in Europe known to date.]]