Ancient Art At Leang Leang Cave

Famous cave paintings from the Stone Age have been showed in Southern America and center European counties. The artists captured the images of the beasts by firstly outlining the contours of their bodies, and then adding points than at the end filling in the shapes with shades of ocher and red. They also succeeded in working with contrasts between light and shadow.

In the southern part of Sulawes some of the oldest art has been foundi, once known as the Celebes. The island that lies within the region, Wallacea, a region of deep water and islands separating the continental shelves of Australia and Asia, is specific in that no land bridge ever connected it to the Asian continent during the last ice age.

Against this background, the caves in South Sulawesi stand out as the place where the remains of Neolithic man have been found. The caves known as the Leang-Leang caves, named after the village in which they are located, are just a few of the 55 caves in the spectacular limestone mountains of South Sulawesi amid shallow lakes, waterfalls, and exotic flora and fauna. Artefacts and shell-fish found in these abris souz roche denote the place as having been used for both sacred and profane purposes.
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 Images of human hands, suggesting movement to ward off evil or danger from approaching or entering the cave, are seen on many of the cave walls. As well, the babir-usa, hunted until well into the 20th century, is also depicted on the walls of the caves.

The handprints were made by blowing red haematite pigment over a hand placed flat on a surface. Red was symbolic of life and blood, and was used for magical purposes. Most of the time, the prints were of whole hands, sometimes complete with the upper limbs of the human body. When hands lacking a finger or two are shown, they indicate the death of family members, and at the same time warn the evil spirits to back off.

The babirusa (”pig-deer” or “hog-deer” with long legs and tusks which curve upwards) is another theme that covers the walls. Also colored in a brownish red, the deer is depicted with an arrow in its heart. Offshoots of this habit still live on in what is usually considered black magic.

(All Pic. Source  from www.atvisit.com)