Austronesian painting tradition may have preceded Neolithic pottery

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—The widespread dispersal of an Austronesian painting tradition preceded pottery during a frontier phase of prehistory, according to a study*. When people speaking languages in the Austronesian family dispersed throughout island Southeast Asia and into the Pacific region, beginning around 4,200 years ago, they brought along a distinctive rock painting style characterized by small human figures, boats, and geometric motifs, including concentric circles with sun rays. The age and origins of the Austronesian painting tradition are not well-documented. Ceri Shipton and colleagues report the excavation of a painted stone plaque from a limestone rock shelter on Wetar Island in Southeast Indonesia that was radiocarbon-dated to 4,090–3,900 years ago. The portable plaque bears a red concentric circle and sun ray motif characteristic of the Austronesian tradition. Associated cultural artifacts and subsistence activities suggest that the plaque was in a transitional layer between Paleolithic and Neolithic occupation. The analysis suggests that the plaque is the earliest, securely dated example of the Austronesian painting tradition in the region, predating the introduction of ceramics. The dating supports an early origin of the Austronesian painting tradition, carried on portable objects at the wavefront of the Austronesian dispersal. According to the authors, the Austronesian diaspora may have been associated with a symbolic ideology.

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4,000-year-old painted plaque from Wetar Island, Indonesia.  Credit: Shimona Kealy.

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Color-enhanced photo of painted plaque from Wetar Island, Indonesia.  Credit: Shimona Kealy.

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Stratigraphic section of excavation showing position of slab (red), radiocarbon dates (black), and layer boundaries (white lines).  Credit: Shimona Kealy.

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Article Source: PNAS news release.

*“4000-year-old painted plaque from Southeast Indonesia reveals Austronesian Painting Tradition preceded Neolithic pottery,” by Sue O’Connor et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 17-Aug-2026. https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2611580123