Lubang Jeriji Saleh: Borneo Cave Art Over 40,000 Years Old
Lubang Jeriji Saleh and its ancient cave art
Lubang Jeriji Saleh is a limestone cave in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, known for a reddish-orange animal painting dated to at least 40,000 years ago. It lies in the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat karst of East Kutai, a remote landscape of limestone ridges and caves. The date applies to the painting’s minimum age, worked out from mineral crust above the pigment; it is not a date inscribed by the artist, and it does not mean the cave is a developed visitor attraction. For the wider section, go to East Kalimantan: Mahakam River, Reefs and Kutai History.
The site matters for two connected reasons: it preserves figurative art alongside hand stencils, and its mineral deposits allow a minimum age to be worked out. For a traveller, the essential practical point is that Lubang Jeriji Saleh is a remote archaeological cave, not a walk-up attraction with a visitor route. Treat access as uncertain and do not plan a journey around entering the painted chamber unless local heritage authorities have explicitly arranged access.
Where the cave is in East Kalimantan
The cave belongs to the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Peninsula karst in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. The broader karst landscape extends across East Kutai and Berau regencies. Lubang Jeriji Saleh is associated with Bengalon district in East Kutai; the name of the larger peninsula or karst region is not an address that identifies a nearby village, trailhead or public entrance. Maps that show the peninsula therefore do not by themselves provide a usable final approach.
This distinction matters because the regional rock-art landscape contains many separate caves and rock shelters rather than one central site. Rock-art locations fall into several karst areas, including Merabu, Batu Raya, Batu Gergaji, Batu Nyere, Batu Tutunambo, Batu Pengadan and Batu Tabalar. A trip to one of those areas cannot be assumed to lead to Lubang Jeriji Saleh.
The karst itself is part of the subject. Limestone dissolves slowly as water moves through cracks, producing enclosed chambers, openings and steep-sided formations over long periods. A cave entrance on a map can be separated from a road or settlement by uneven ground, forest and watercourses. In this region, a short straight-line distance is not a reliable measure of the time, effort or permissions needed to reach an archaeological panel.
What visitors should understand about the paintings
The best-known image is a large animal painted in reddish orange on limestone. The image is figurative because it represents a recognisable living form. That makes it different from a stain, an abstract mark or a hand outline, though all of those can be meaningful parts of a painted cave.
Red-orange hand stencils occur at the site as well. A stencil is made by placing a hand against a surface and applying pigment around it, leaving the hand-shaped area unpainted. The outline records a bodily gesture while withholding the person’s name and identity. The dated examples are not all assigned the same precise age: two stencils of this colour have minimum uranium-series dates of 37,200 years, while another has a maximum date of 51,800 years. These limits indicate an early phase extending deep into the Pleistocene, but they do not give the exact day, year or order in which each image was made.
The cave art is not a single scene created at one moment. The motifs in Lubang Jeriji Saleh and other East Kalimantan caves show an early red-orange phase, a later phase with dark-purple or mulberry-coloured hand stencils and more intricate motifs, and still later dark-pigment imagery including human figures and geometric forms. Dating for the wider sequence places purple hand stencils at roughly 21,000 to 20,000 years ago. These figures help explain the long development of rock art, but they should not be read as a full timeline for every wall in this one cave.
For a visitor looking at a photograph, pigment colour alone does not give a secure date. Mineral deposits, conservation conditions, lighting and image processing can all affect how a mark appears in a reproduction. The scientific chronology comes from dated mineral growth associated with particular motifs, not from deciding that one shade looks older than another.
How the minimum age was established
Once a thin mineral layer covered part of the pigment, the underlying painted surface had to exist before that layer grew. Dating the overlying carbonate therefore gives a minimum age for the painting: it must be at least as old as the dated deposit. The method does not directly date the pigment or identify the person who applied it.
The animal image yielded a minimum age of 40,000 years. The careful wording matters: new discoveries and improved dating can change a record-holder, while the measured date applies to this image alone. Other rock-art sites in Indonesia have produced older minimum dates for figurative compositions, so it is more accurate to describe Lubang Jeriji Saleh as one of the earliest securely dated examples than to present a permanent world record.
Uranium-series dating is useful in caves because calcium carbonate can grow as a thin coating on a rock surface and preserve a sequence of mineral layers. The sample’s position in relation to the pigment is crucial. A deposit underneath a painting would set a maximum age for the painting; a deposit above it sets a minimum. That relationship is why “at least 40,000 years old” is more defensible than an unqualified statement that the painting is exactly 40,000 years old.
The distinction also helps explain why the cave’s art is valuable beyond a headline age. They do not tell us the language spoken by the artists, what a particular hand stencil meant, or whether the animal was painted as part of a story. Those interpretations go beyond what the image alone can show.
Discovery and the name Lubang Jeriji Saleh
That year marks early exploration and the first recognition of rock art in the wider area; it should not be confused with the later identification of this specific cave. The name is often written with an acute accent as Lubang Jeriji Saléh, while the unaccented spelling is common in English-language travel searches.
“Lubang” is Indonesian for a hole or opening, and “gua” is the more usual word for cave. The full name is treated as a place name; no reliable literal translation for “Jeriji Saleh” is known. Do not assume it describes the shape of the cave or translates directly as “Saleh’s cave”. The spelling with and without the accent refers to the same archaeological site.
The sequence from regional exploration to the specific documentation of this cave helps avoid a common chronology mix-up. The paintings were not made in 1994: that is a modern research milestone. The age of the art is inferred from the mineral layers overlying certain images, and the work behind it appeared in 2018. These are three different dates with three different meanings: exploration, site documentation and scientific publication.
Planning a visit to a remote archaeological cave
There is no dependable public route, trail length or visitor facility, so an independent visit is hard to plan. The cave lies in a remote karst area, and reaching the region is not the same as reaching the painted chamber. A trip may involve an overland journey from a settlement in East Kalimantan, followed by arranged access across difficult terrain. Check the final approach and permissions in person before travelling. Do not invent a distance or assume entry is guaranteed.
For itinerary planning, allow the cave to remain a research and conservation site unless access is affirmatively available. Do not treat a map pin, a photograph online or the existence of nearby community tourism as proof that the cave is open. A regional visit to Kota Bangun or a journey along the Balikpapan to Samarinda road corridor can provide East Kalimantan context, but neither is a short local side trip to Lubang Jeriji Saleh.
If access is arranged, the purpose should be to observe without touching. Painted limestone is vulnerable to abrasion, moisture, smoke, dust and repeated handling. A hand placed on a rock ledge can transfer oils and soil; a flash or bright lamp can alter the conditions under which a panel is viewed, and visitors can dislodge fragile surface deposits without noticing. Follow the site custodian’s directions, stay on the permitted route and leave every surface exactly as found. These precautions are especially important where the dating depends on a thin mineral skin that lies directly over the pigment.
Carry the practical assumption that the cave is not set up like a ticketed show cave: do not expect marked paths, handrails, lighting, interpretation panels or a staffed entrance. Check current public opening, seasonal closures, guide availability and any visitor booking process before you go. Ask the relevant local heritage or village authority whether entry is allowed and what arrangements apply before setting out. If permission is unclear, focus any regional travel on places that clearly receive visitors.
Season and weather matter in a karst landscape, since the same route can become harder when ground is wet, streams rise or forest paths turn slippery. There is no fixed visitor season for Lubang Jeriji Saleh, so a blanket promise that the dry season is best would mislead. Check actual conditions with a contact close to the intended date, and be ready to postpone rather than push on to an archaeological site when the approach is unsafe or access is uncertain.
Why Lubang Jeriji Saleh is distinct within Borneo’s cave art
Lubang Jeriji Saleh is one named cave within a much larger concentration of rock-art locations on the peninsula. The regional landscape includes caves and shelters with hand stencils, animal forms, human figures and geometric motifs, produced at different times. Its significance is therefore both individual and comparative: the cattle-like image is an exceptionally early dated figurative painting, while the broader group of sites preserves evidence for artistic activity across millennia.
The cave should not be conflated with the cave art of Sulawesi, even though the two regions are often discussed together. Both are Indonesian islands with Pleistocene cave paintings, but they have distinct karst landscapes and site records. A comparison can illuminate how art traditions developed around the wider region; it does not mean that the same people made the images or travelled between the caves. For a regional contrast in landscape and settlement, see the route between Samarinda and Long Bagun, which concerns a different part of East Kalimantan and is not an approach route to the cave.
The most useful way to read the site is as a surviving material record with limits. Pigment and mineral crust preserve a relationship that can be studied; the identity, intention and stories of the artists remain unknown. The red animal, the hand stencils and later phases should be appreciated without assigning a cultural meaning that cannot be shown. This restraint does not make the paintings less compelling. It keeps the ancient marks visible as evidence rather than turning them into modern guesses.
Questions about Lubang Jeriji Saleh
Is Lubang Jeriji Saleh open to visitors?
Do not assume public visitor access. The cave is remote and archaeologically sensitive, so check permission with local heritage or village authorities before travelling. Do not assume that a map location or regional tour means entry to the painted chamber is available.
How old is the animal painting?
Uranium-series dating of calcium carbonate over the reddish-orange animal image gave a minimum age of 40,000 years. “At least” is important: the method dates the mineral layer above the paint, so the image itself may be older.
Was this the oldest cave painting in the world?
The animal image is among the oldest known figurative artworks. Newer discoveries elsewhere have changed the broader record, so it ranks among the earliest known and dated figurative paintings.
What animal is shown?
The large red-orange figure is generally interpreted as a wild bovine or cattle-like animal.
Does the name mean “Saleh’s cave”?
Lubang means hole or opening, and Saleh is a personal name associated with the site’s modern documentation. No reliable literal translation of the full name is known, so “Saleh’s cave” should not be presented as a translation.
Related guides: bahau dayak people, borneo confrontation, sangkulirang karst, East Kutai Landscapes: Karst, Rainforest and Coast Compared.