In 2019, researchers reported a cave painting at Leang Tedongnge — also in the Maros-Pangkep karst — dated to at least 45,500 years ago.

The painting depicts a warty pig (Sus celebensis), the endemic Sulawesi warty pig species, rendered in red ochre.

This was subsequently identified as among the oldest known figurative art on Earth.

The same research group has continued to find ancient art in the Maros-Pangkep caves.

A 2021 publication reported a hunting scene at Leang Karampuang that may be even older — potentially dated to at least 51,200 years ago — though the dating of this finding remains the subject of scholarly discussion.

The people who painted these caves were anatomically modern humans — Homo sapiens — who had arrived in Sulawesi from the African homeland at least 60,000 to 70,000 years ago or more.