ABC News December 12, 2019

Archaeologists discover oldest cave painting to tell a story. Here's what it depicts

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Archaeologists have discovered what they say is the earliest figurative painting known to man, in a cave in Indonesia.

(MORE: Mammoth bones found in man-made pit reveal tantalizing evidence of hunting behavior)

It depicts an intricate hunting scene, scholars believe, in which eight small, human-like figures pursue an anoa, a type of buffalo found in Indonesia.

Griffith University/EPA via Shutterstock
A hunting scene panorama of a cave painting found on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia was released Dec. 12, 2019. The scene is at least 44,000-years-old and appears to be the earliest known pictorial record of story-telling.

The humans have animal features, like snouts and tails, and appear to be wielding thin objects that scholars are interpreting as spears or ropes.

Ratno Sardi/Griffith University/AFP/Getty Images
This handout photographreleased by Griffith University, Dec. 11, 2019, shows cave art inside Bulu Sipong 4, Sulawesi, Indonesia. The image depicts a hunting scene painted 44,000 years ago, the oldest known to date.

After testing the painting using uranium analysis, scientists determined it to be 44,000 years old. The findings were published this week in the journal Nature.

Ratno Sardi/Griffith University/AFP/Getty Images
This handout photographreleased by Griffith University, Dec. 11, 2019, shows cave art inside Bulu Sipong 4, Sulawesi, Indonesia. The image depicts a hunting scene painted 44,000 years ago, the oldest known to date.

While the painting is believed to be the earliest to depict a scene, it's not the earliest drawing on record. That honor goes to an abstract drawing found in a cave in South Africa in 2018 that is believed to be 73,000 years old.