Over 500 negative handprints have been found in the six caves undergoing exploration. The artist appears to have blown a very fine powdered pigment through a hollow tube or bone, over a hand pressed against the rock face. Paintings sometimes appear as high up as 10 metres above the cave floor, in seemingly inaccessible locations. However, most astonishing of all, the majority of the hands are decorated with dots, lines, crosses and patterns. Fage thinks that these may have ritual or shamanistic meaning, and may indicate the existence of an elaborate body art.
Curved lines connect some of the hands, like a family tree.
The decorations and paintings in the caves of Liang Kaung are among the most beautiful and varied in all of Southeast Asia. Luc-Henri Fage will tackle the formidable challenges of Kalimantan for the ninth time in 2001, as he sets off once more in search of answers.