The scientists found the oldest known model for drawing an animal, a red silhouette of a bulllike animal on the wall of a remote Indonesian cave.
The painting dates back to at least 40,000 years, slightly older than similar animal paintings in the famous caves of Europe.
A few years ago, experts thought Europe was the place where our predecessors began drawing animals and other characters.
But the age of the painting - in addition to the previous discoveries in Southeast Asia - indicates that the symbolism appeared in both Asia and Europe at about the same time.
Researchers also analyzed hand drawings and paintings of human scenes from the caves on Borneo Island.
The results were reported Wednesday in the journal Nature.
