The painting was dated using a new technique and suggests Europe was not where cave art first emerged.

Scientists have discovered what they believe to be the world’s oldest artwork – depicting three people gathered around a large red pig – in a cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Research published on Wednesday indicates the painting was created some 51,200 years ago.

“This is the oldest evidence of storytelling,” Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist at Australia’s Griffith University and co-author of a new study published in Nature, told the AFP news agency.

Aubert was part of the team that identified the previous record holder, a picture of a warty pig thought to be at least 45,500 years old.

The latest discovery, found inside the Leang Karampuang cave in the Maros-Pangkep region of South Sulawesi, is in poor condition.

It shows three people around a wild pig, measuring 92cm by 38cm (36 inches by 15 inches), in a single shade of dark red pigment. There are other images of pigs in the cave as well.

“The juxtaposition of the figures – how they are positioned in relation to each other – and the manner in which they are interacting – were clearly deliberate, and it conveys an unmistakable sense of action. There is something happening between these figures. A story is being told. Obviously, we don’t know what that story was,” said Griffith University archaeologist Adam Brumm, another of the study’s authors.

Aubert speculated that the paintings were probably made by the first group of humans who moved through Southeast Asia before arriving in Australia about 65,000 years ago.

“It’s probably just a matter of time before we find samples that are older,” Aubert added.

Previously, the first narrative art was thought to have emerged in Europe.

The date given for the Indonesian cave art is “quite provocative” because it is so much older than what has been found elsewhere, including in Europe, said Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at London’s Natural History Museum.

Stringer, who was not involved in the research, said the experienced team’s findings looked sound but needed to be confirmed by further dating.

“In my view, this find reinforces the idea that representational art was first produced in Africa, before 50,000 years ago, and the concept spread as our species spread,” he told AFP.

“If that is true, much new supporting evidence from other areas including Africa has yet to emerge.”

The researchers used a new scientific approach to determine the minimum age of the Leang Karampuang cave painting by using a laser to date a type of crystal called calcium carbonate that formed naturally on top of the painting.

Little is known about the people who created the Sulawesi cave paintings.

“This discovery of very old cave art in Indonesia drives home the point that Europe was not the birthplace of cave art, as had long been assumed. It also suggests that storytelling was a much older part of human history, and the history of art, in particular, than previously recognized,” Brumm said.

“The earliest Sulawesi rock art is not ‘simple’,” Aubert added. “It is quite advanced and shows the mental capacity of people at the time.”

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Some American tourists are still stuck in Jamaica as Hurricane Beryl continues to pound the Caribbean Sea en route to Mexico.

Hurricane Beryl, a Category 4 storm, has been making its way through the southeast Caribbean this week. The storm hit Jamaica on Wednesday. 

Newlywed Casey Haley told Fox News Digital that she recently flew into Jamaica to celebrate her honeymoon. She and her husband got married on Saturday, and they arrived in the country on Sunday morning.

“We were originally told not to worry and that everything would be fine. Now they are doing lots of storm prep,” she explained.

HURRICANE SEASON BEARS DOWN AS BIPARTISAN LAWMAKERS PUSH TO DETACH FEMA FROM ‘PARTISAN’ DHS

The bride noticed people at their resort leaving on Monday evening. When she and her husband inquired about the situation to hotel staff, they were given mixed messages.

“Our room is on the 10th floor, you’re not supposed to stay up that high during [a] hurricane,” Haley said. “So we decided to find a safe place within our building. We found an inner stairwell that is away from all windows and doesn’t have a ton of ceiling above us.”

The couple was then moved to a conference room. Haley noted that the resort “seems a little frantic.”

“It was calm right up until this morning,” she said. “Lots of last minute boarding up and prep.”

“That’s when the reality of the situation set in, but we took a breath, said a prayer, and did all the prep we could,” she said. “The storm is hitting now, so we will likely be losing all contact soon.”

Casey Haley and her husband were visiting Jamaica for their honeymoon when the storm hit. (Casey Haley)

Despite the uncertainty, Haley affirmed that she still hopes for the best.

MAN AND HIS DOG ELECTROCUTED IN FREAK ACCIDENT DURING THUNDERSTORM

“We feel prepared and we are prayerful,” she said. “Everything else is now out of our control and our goal is to respond to whatever happens with level heads.”

Tourist Kiki Barry, who is vacationing in Jamaica with her friend, told Fox News Digital that she was due to leave on Wednesday before Sangster International Airport (MBJ) closed due to the storm.

“We are in a safe place, they have converted the movie theater and convention center inside into a shelter,” she explained. “We have plenty [of] food, drinks, some indoor fans and portable air conditioners. We have movies and games the staff have planned.”

Kiki Barry, left, is currently in Jamaica with her friend as they wait out the storm. (Kiki Barry)

Barry added that she felt “calm but anxious,” and commended her hotel for keeping guests “in good spirits.”

“We had a very good trip, just ready to get home to our husbands and children,” she said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, at least six people have been killed amid the storm. AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jon Porter said he was “very concerned about a wide variety of life-threatening impacts in Jamaica.”

Tourist Kiki Barry told Fox News Digital that her hotel is keeping guests in good spirits with its movie theater. (Kiki Barry)

“[This is] the strongest and most dangerous hurricane threat that Jamaica has faced, probably, in decades,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.