The discovery comes from Sulawesi, which is not a random location for a record-breaking archaeological finding.

Sulawesi is one of the most archaeologically important islands in the world for understanding the deep prehistory of modern humans in Island Southeast Asia.

In recent decades, it has produced a remarkable series of findings that have repeatedly rewritten our understanding of when humans reached this part of the world and what they were doing there.

In 2019, researchers reported a cave painting at a site in the Maros-Pangkep karst — the same karst system that includes Leang Bulu Bettue — that was dated to at least 45,500 years ago.

The painting depicts a warty pig, rendered in red ochre, and it is among the oldest representational art ever found.