ABSTRACTApproximately 50000 stone artefacts have been recovered from the prehistoric site of Lean... more ABSTRACTApproximately 50000 stone artefacts have been recovered from the prehistoric site of Leang Bulu Bettue (LBB), on the Wallacean island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia. This large assemblage offers the opportunity to produce a large‐scale, comprehensive model of the early lithic technologies of South Sulawesi. Through the analysis of half of this assemblage, this study identifies a technological shift between the artefacts produced ca.50–40 thousand years ago (ka) – the “Lower Industry” – and the “Upper Industry” artefacts produced ca.40–16 ka. The majority of the assemblage belongs to the Upper Industry, and these artefacts are associated with portable art, ornamentation, and the Homo sapiens remains reported in previous works. These Upper Industry artefacts are largely made on chert that was brought to the site, sometimes in the form of large flake blanks, which was further reduced within the cave and used for ochre and plant processing. Artefact reduction was strategic during thi...
Indonesia harbors some of the oldest known surviving cave art. Previously, the earliest dated roc... more Indonesia harbors some of the oldest known surviving cave art. Previously, the earliest dated rock art from this region was a figurative painting of a Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis). This image from Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 in the limestone karsts of Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi, was created at least 43,900 years ago (43.9 ka) based on Uranium-series dating. Here, we report the Uranium-series dating of two figurative cave paintings of Sulawesi warty pigs recently discovered in the same karst area. The oldest, with a minimum age of 45.5 ka, is from Leang Tedongnge. The second image, from Leang Balangajia 1, dates to at least 32 ka. To our knowledge, the animal painting from Leang Tedongnge is the earliest known representational work of art in the world. There is no reason to suppose, however, that this early rock art is a unique example in Island Southeast Asia or the wider region.
Recent excavations at Leang Bulu Bettue, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, h... more Recent excavations at Leang Bulu Bettue, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, have yielded a collection of flaked chert and limestone artefacts with cortical surfaces that had been deliberately incised prior to or after the knapping process. The markings engraved on these artefacts, which were recovered from deposits ranging in age between approximately 30–14 thousand years ago (30–14 ka), comprise cross-hatched patterns and other non-figurative imagery. This behaviour is of interest because of the almost total absence of portable art in the Pleistocene record of Island Southeast Asia, and the long-standing idea that the early modern human lithic technology of this region was fundamentally simple and remained so over tens of millennia. Here, we take stock of these incised stone artefacts from methodological and theoretical perspectives. Our findings suggest that unless one is specifically examining cortex on stone artefacts for these fine incisions, they are easily overlooked, and hence, we focus on how to improve detection of these faint engravings. We also consider why the Leang Bulu Bettue inhabitants engraved stone tool cortex, a practice we regard as an enigmatic form of portable lithic art and an apparent example of the creative process being as important as the end product—if not more so. We conclude that otherwise unremarkable lithic assemblages in Island Southeast Asia and beyond may potentially harbour hidden evidence for symbolic content in the form of often barely perceptible markings on remnant cortical surfaces.
The ability to produce recognizable depictions of objects from the natural world—known as figurat... more The ability to produce recognizable depictions of objects from the natural world—known as figurative art—is unique to Homo sapiens and may be one of the cognitive traits that separates our species from extinct hominin relatives. Surviving examples of Pleistocene figurative art are generally confined to rock art or portable three-dimensional works (such as figurines) and images engraved into the surfaces of small mobile objects. These portable communicative technologies first appear in Europe some 40 thousand years ago (ka) with the arrival of H. sapiens . Conversely, despite H. sapiens having moved into Southeast Asia–Australasia by at least 65 ka, very little evidence for Pleistocene-aged portable art has been identified, leading to uncertainties regarding the cultural behaviour of the earliest H. sapiens in this region. Here, we report the discovery of two small stone ‘plaquettes’ incised with figurative imagery dating to 26–14 ka from Leang Bulu Bettue, Sulawesi. These new findings, together with the recent discovery of rock art dating to at least 40 ka in this same region, overturns the long-held belief that the first H. sapiens of Southeast Asia–Australasia did not create sophisticated art and further cements the importance of this behaviour for our species’ ability to overcome environmental and social challenges. Small, portable artworks have been missing from the archaeological record of the earliest Homo sapiens of Southeast Asia–Australasia. New excavations in Sulawesi have uncovered stone engravings of the natural world dating back to 26–14 ka.
Humans seem to have an adaptive predisposition for inventing, telling and consuming stories1. Pre... more Humans seem to have an adaptive predisposition for inventing, telling and consuming stories1. Prehistoric cave art provides the most direct insight that we have into the earliest storytelling2–5, in the form of narrative compositions or ‘scenes’2,5 that feature clear figurative depictions of sets of figures in spatial proximity to each other, and from which one can infer actions taking place among the figures5. The Upper Palaeolithic cave art of Europe hosts the oldest previously known images of humans and animals interacting in recognizable scenes2,5, and of therianthropes6,7—abstract beings that combine qualities of both people and animals, and which arguably communicated narrative fiction of some kind (folklore, religious myths, spiritual beliefs and so on). In this record of creative expression (spanning from about 40 thousand years ago (ka) until the beginning of the Holocene epoch at around 10 ka), scenes in cave art are generally rare and chronologically late (dating to about 21–14 ka)7, and clear representations of therianthropes are uncommon6—the oldest such image is a carved figurine from Germany of a human with a feline head (dated to about 40–39 ka)8. Here we describe an elaborate rock art panel from the limestone cave of Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 (Sulawesi, Indonesia) that portrays several figures that appear to represent therianthropes hunting wild pigs and dwarf bovids; this painting has been dated to at least 43.9 ka on the basis of uranium-series analysis of overlying speleothems. This hunting scene is—to our knowledge—currently the oldest pictorial record of storytelling and the earliest figurative artwork in the world.A rock art panel from Sulawesi—dated to at least 43.9 thousand years ago—represents the oldest currently known figurative art in the world, and provides evidence of early storytelling through narrative hunting scenes.
The Preneolithic Stone Artefact of Leang Jarie Site: The Oldest Evidence of Maros Point Technolo... more The Preneolithic Stone Artefact of Leang Jarie Site: The Oldest Evidence of Maros Point Technology in the Toalean Culture Region, South Sulawesi. Maros Point is one type of flake tool that shows characteristics of the techno-complex Toalean from South Sulawesi. Early emergence of the Toalean Culture phase is still debated, but most experts agree that this tool only appeared no more than 4000 years ago and is positioned include with pottery or Neolithic period. The Maros Point is considered to be made by the early occupants of Sulawesi after the arrival and contact with Austronesian speakers migration in South Sulawesi. The problem is that the results of the latest research are contrary to previous opinions. This paper aims to show new evidence of excavation at the Leang Jarie Site, as the oldest Maros Point technology ca. 8,000 years ago in the Toalean Cultural Region. Maros Point is made simpler with the support flake without using reduction pattern of flake-blade technology. Flak...
This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early hu... more This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early human occupation site in the Late Pleistocene of Southeast Asia. Excavated originally by Ian Glover in 1975, this limestone rock-shelter in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, Indonesia, has long held significance in our understanding of early human dispersals into 'Wallacea', the vast zone of oceanic islands between continental Asia and Australia. We present new stratigraphic information and dating evidence from Leang Burung 2 collected during the course of our excavations at this site in 2007 and 2011-13. Our findings suggest that the classic Late Pleistocene modern human occupation sequence identified previously at Leang Burung 2, and proposed to span around 31,000 to 19,000 conventional 14C years BP (~35-24 ka cal BP), may actually represent an amalgam of reworked archaeological materials. Sources for cultural materials of mixed ages comprise breccias from the rear wall of the rock-s...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017
Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands separating the continental regions of Southeast Asia and Au... more Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands separating the continental regions of Southeast Asia and Australia, has yielded sparse evidence for the symbolic culture of early modern humans. Here we report evidence for symbolic activity 30,000–22,000 y ago at Leang Bulu Bettue, a cave and rock-shelter site on the Wallacean island of Sulawesi. We describe hitherto undocumented practices of personal ornamentation and portable art, alongside evidence for pigment processing and use in deposits that are the same age as dated rock art in the surrounding karst region. Previously, assemblages of multiple and diverse types of Pleistocene “symbolic” artifacts were entirely unknown from this region. The Leang Bulu Bettue assemblage provides insight into the complexity and diversification of modern human culture during a key period in the global dispersal of our species. It also shows that early inhabitants of Sulawesi fashioned ornaments from body parts of endemic animals, suggesting modern humans int...
Much remains unknown about the population history of early modern humans in southeast Asia, where... more Much remains unknown about the population history of early modern humans in southeast Asia, where the archaeological record is sparse and the tropical climate is inimical to the preservation of ancient human DNA1. So far, only two low-coverage pre-Neolithic human genomes have been sequenced from this region. Both are from mainland Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherer sites: Pha Faen in Laos, dated to 7939–7751 calibrated years before present (yr cal bp; present taken as ad 1950), and Gua Cha in Malaysia (4.4–4.2 kyr cal bp)1. Here we report, to our knowledge, the first ancient human genome from Wallacea, the oceanic island zone between the Sunda Shelf (comprising mainland southeast Asia and the continental islands of western Indonesia) and Pleistocene Sahul (Australia–New Guinea). We extracted DNA from the petrous bone of a young female hunter-gatherer buried 7.3–7.2 kyr cal bp at the limestone cave of Leang Panninge2 in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Genetic analyses show that this pre-Neolithic...
City as center of agglomeration is an important parameter to measure the growth of a region. The ... more City as center of agglomeration is an important parameter to measure the growth of a region. The completion of facilities and infrastructure will invite people to stay. So that, the annual population growth become unaviodable. By the growth of population, the public utility and settlement requirement also progressively increase which also implicatese on wider land requirement level. Karebosi's Revitalization Project as the answer of Makassar's City Government on society's the need on facilities, in its implementation apparently ignore contained historical points at in it. Since its early development on 16th October 2007, have evoked conflicts of a variety the interested parties. Makassar's City Government who give management rights to PT. Tosan Permai up to 30 year gets lampooning of a variety party, such from the public, academician, NGOs, Cultural Concerned Institution (Provincial Beurau of Tourism and BPPP) and environment observer. This writing tries to see Kare...
Eksplorasi yang telah dilakukan di Jeneponto diperoleh sebaran makam Islam kuno pada sepuluh situ... more Eksplorasi yang telah dilakukan di Jeneponto diperoleh sebaran makam Islam kuno pada sepuluh situs dengan variabilitas temuan makam yang sangat kompleks. Hubungan yang tampak jelas antara bentuk jirat, nisan dan ragam hias menunjukkan bahwa semakin besar dan tinggi ukuran jirat dan semakin variatif ragam hias suatu makam, maka tokoh yang dimakamkan memiliki strata yang tinggi pula. Bentuk jirat dengan varian ragam hias tidak berkorelasi positif terhadap bentuk jirat untuk melihat strata sosial orang yang dimakamkan. Hubungan bentuk jirat dengan bentuk nisan memperlihatkan bahwa pemakaian bentuk nisan paling banyak pada jirat monolit bersusun dua disusul dengan jirat bersusun tiga. Khusus untuk nisan menhir hanya digunakan pada makam tanpa jirat atau jirat yang tersusun dari batu-batu alam. Tampaknya tidak ada pola yang jelas mengenai penggunaan bentuk-bentuk nisan terhadap bentuk-bentuk jirat. Demikian pula dengan sistem ideologi, terlihat bahwa di daerah Jeaeponto, walaupun keperca...
The Indonesian island of Sulawesi harbours numerous early rock paintings of the endemic Sulawesi ... more The Indonesian island of Sulawesi harbours numerous early rock paintings of the endemic Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis). Several S. celebensis images, including one dated to at least 45,500 years ago (ka), portray these suids with an anatomical character not observed in the living species: a pair of teat-like protuberances in the neck area. This feature seems to be most consistent morphologically with neck “wattles”, cutaneous appendages only manifested in modern domestic swine (Sus scrofa) and some other domesticated ungulates (e.g. goats). The notion that the trait portrayed by the Late Pleistocene artists is a domestication character is clearly contentious. We therefore consider: (1) whether we have misidentified the trait – a common problem in rock art analysis; (2) whether wattles are a genuine domestication trait; and (3) if so, whether the notion that Pleistocene people domesticated S. celebensis is plausible. A clear resolution to all of these problems evades us; however, our investigation of this anomaly in the ancient rock art poses important questions about the nature and complexity of early human–pig relations in this island.
Major gaps remain in our knowledge of the early history of Homo sapiens in Wallacea. By 70–60 tho... more Major gaps remain in our knowledge of the early history of Homo sapiens in Wallacea. By 70–60 thousand years ago (ka), modern humans appear to have entered this distinct biogeographical zone between continental Asia and Australia. Despite this, there are relatively few Late Pleistocene sites attributed to our species in Wallacea. H. sapiens fossil remains are also rare. Previously, only one island in Wallacea (Alor in the southeastern part of the archipelago) had yielded skeletal evidence for pre-Holocene modern humans. Here we report on the first Pleistocene human skeletal remains from the largest Wallacean island, Sulawesi. The recovered elements consist of a nearly complete palate and frontal process of a modern human right maxilla excavated from Leang Bulu Bettue in the southwestern peninsula of the island. Dated by several different methods to between 25 and 16 ka, the maxilla belongs to an elderly individual of unknown age and sex, with small teeth (only M1 to M3 are extant) t...
Tulisan ini menyajikan studi tentang lanskap pada situs gua-gua yang memiliki gambar dari masa pr... more Tulisan ini menyajikan studi tentang lanskap pada situs gua-gua yang memiliki gambar dari masa prasejarah. Gua-gua prasejarah di bagian selatan Pulau Sulawesi merupakan kawasan gua dengan karakter lukisan telapak tangan dan fauna. Penelitian ini difokuskan pada lukisan fauna dan lanskap budaya. Metode yang digunakan diantaranya mengumpulkan hasil penelitian lukisan di wilayah ini kemudian mengklasifikasi jenis lukisan fauna dan keletakan situs berlukis tersebut dalam peta dengan menggunakan software GIS. Software ini juga digunakan untuk menghitung jarak situs terdekat dan terjauh dengan pantai di masa Pleistosen. Hasil identifikasi berdasarkan lukisan fauna, pola sebaran gua dan lingkungan masa lalu menjelaskan bahwa kawasan gua-gua prasejarah di bagian selatan Sulawesi merupakan lanskap budaya yang telah diokupasi oleh dua kelompok identitas yang berbeda berdasarkan karakter lukisannya.
Much remains unknown about the population history of early modern humans in southeast Asia, where... more Much remains unknown about the population history of early modern humans in southeast Asia, where the archaeological record is sparse and the tropical climate is inimical to the preservation of ancient human DNA1. So far, only two low-coverage pre-Neolithic human genomes have been sequenced from this region. Both are from mainland Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherer sites: Pha Faen in Laos, dated to 7939–7751 calibrated years before present (yr cal bp; present taken as ad 1950), and Gua Cha in Malaysia (4.4–4.2 kyr cal bp)1. Here we report, to our knowledge, the first ancient human genome from Wallacea, the oceanic island zone between the Sunda Shelf (comprising mainland southeast Asia and the continental islands of western Indonesia) and Pleistocene Sahul (Australia–New Guinea). We extracted DNA from the petrous bone of a young female hunter-gatherer buried 7.3–7.2 kyr cal bp at the limestone cave of Leang Panninge2 in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Genetic analyses show that this pre-Neolithic...
This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early hu... more This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early human occupation site in the Late Pleistocene of Southeast Asia. Excavated originally by Ian Glover in 1975, this limestone rock-shelter in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, Indone-sia, has long held significance in our understanding of early human dispersals into 'Walla
Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands separating the continental regions of Southeast Asia and Au... more Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands separating the continental regions of Southeast Asia and Australia, has yielded sparse evidence for the symbolic culture of early modern humans. Here we report evidence for symbolic activity 30,000–22,000 y ago at Leang Bulu Bettue, a cave and rock-shelter site on the Wallacean island of Sulawesi. We describe hitherto undocumented practices of personal ornamentation and portable art, alongside evidence for pigment processing and use in deposits that are the same age as dated rock art in the surrounding karst region. Previously, assemblages of multiple and diverse types of Pleistocene " symbolic " artifacts were entirely unknown from this region. The Leang Bulu Bettue assemblage provides insight into the complexity and diversification of modern human culture during a key period in the global dispersal of our species. It also shows that early inhabitants of Sulawesi fashioned ornaments from body parts of endemic animals, suggesting modern humans integrated exotic faunas and other novel resources into their symbolic world as they colonized the biogeographically unique regions southeast of continental Eurasia.
ABSTRACTApproximately 50000 stone artefacts have been recovered from the prehistoric site of Lean... more ABSTRACTApproximately 50000 stone artefacts have been recovered from the prehistoric site of Leang Bulu Bettue (LBB), on the Wallacean island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia. This large assemblage offers the opportunity to produce a large‐scale, comprehensive model of the early lithic technologies of South Sulawesi. Through the analysis of half of this assemblage, this study identifies a technological shift between the artefacts produced ca.50–40 thousand years ago (ka) – the “Lower Industry” – and the “Upper Industry” artefacts produced ca.40–16 ka. The majority of the assemblage belongs to the Upper Industry, and these artefacts are associated with portable art, ornamentation, and the Homo sapiens remains reported in previous works. These Upper Industry artefacts are largely made on chert that was brought to the site, sometimes in the form of large flake blanks, which was further reduced within the cave and used for ochre and plant processing. Artefact reduction was strategic during thi...
Indonesia harbors some of the oldest known surviving cave art. Previously, the earliest dated roc... more Indonesia harbors some of the oldest known surviving cave art. Previously, the earliest dated rock art from this region was a figurative painting of a Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis). This image from Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 in the limestone karsts of Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi, was created at least 43,900 years ago (43.9 ka) based on Uranium-series dating. Here, we report the Uranium-series dating of two figurative cave paintings of Sulawesi warty pigs recently discovered in the same karst area. The oldest, with a minimum age of 45.5 ka, is from Leang Tedongnge. The second image, from Leang Balangajia 1, dates to at least 32 ka. To our knowledge, the animal painting from Leang Tedongnge is the earliest known representational work of art in the world. There is no reason to suppose, however, that this early rock art is a unique example in Island Southeast Asia or the wider region.
Recent excavations at Leang Bulu Bettue, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, h... more Recent excavations at Leang Bulu Bettue, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, have yielded a collection of flaked chert and limestone artefacts with cortical surfaces that had been deliberately incised prior to or after the knapping process. The markings engraved on these artefacts, which were recovered from deposits ranging in age between approximately 30–14 thousand years ago (30–14 ka), comprise cross-hatched patterns and other non-figurative imagery. This behaviour is of interest because of the almost total absence of portable art in the Pleistocene record of Island Southeast Asia, and the long-standing idea that the early modern human lithic technology of this region was fundamentally simple and remained so over tens of millennia. Here, we take stock of these incised stone artefacts from methodological and theoretical perspectives. Our findings suggest that unless one is specifically examining cortex on stone artefacts for these fine incisions, they are easily overlooked, and hence, we focus on how to improve detection of these faint engravings. We also consider why the Leang Bulu Bettue inhabitants engraved stone tool cortex, a practice we regard as an enigmatic form of portable lithic art and an apparent example of the creative process being as important as the end product—if not more so. We conclude that otherwise unremarkable lithic assemblages in Island Southeast Asia and beyond may potentially harbour hidden evidence for symbolic content in the form of often barely perceptible markings on remnant cortical surfaces.
The ability to produce recognizable depictions of objects from the natural world—known as figurat... more The ability to produce recognizable depictions of objects from the natural world—known as figurative art—is unique to Homo sapiens and may be one of the cognitive traits that separates our species from extinct hominin relatives. Surviving examples of Pleistocene figurative art are generally confined to rock art or portable three-dimensional works (such as figurines) and images engraved into the surfaces of small mobile objects. These portable communicative technologies first appear in Europe some 40 thousand years ago (ka) with the arrival of H. sapiens . Conversely, despite H. sapiens having moved into Southeast Asia–Australasia by at least 65 ka, very little evidence for Pleistocene-aged portable art has been identified, leading to uncertainties regarding the cultural behaviour of the earliest H. sapiens in this region. Here, we report the discovery of two small stone ‘plaquettes’ incised with figurative imagery dating to 26–14 ka from Leang Bulu Bettue, Sulawesi. These new findings, together with the recent discovery of rock art dating to at least 40 ka in this same region, overturns the long-held belief that the first H. sapiens of Southeast Asia–Australasia did not create sophisticated art and further cements the importance of this behaviour for our species’ ability to overcome environmental and social challenges. Small, portable artworks have been missing from the archaeological record of the earliest Homo sapiens of Southeast Asia–Australasia. New excavations in Sulawesi have uncovered stone engravings of the natural world dating back to 26–14 ka.
Humans seem to have an adaptive predisposition for inventing, telling and consuming stories1. Pre... more Humans seem to have an adaptive predisposition for inventing, telling and consuming stories1. Prehistoric cave art provides the most direct insight that we have into the earliest storytelling2–5, in the form of narrative compositions or ‘scenes’2,5 that feature clear figurative depictions of sets of figures in spatial proximity to each other, and from which one can infer actions taking place among the figures5. The Upper Palaeolithic cave art of Europe hosts the oldest previously known images of humans and animals interacting in recognizable scenes2,5, and of therianthropes6,7—abstract beings that combine qualities of both people and animals, and which arguably communicated narrative fiction of some kind (folklore, religious myths, spiritual beliefs and so on). In this record of creative expression (spanning from about 40 thousand years ago (ka) until the beginning of the Holocene epoch at around 10 ka), scenes in cave art are generally rare and chronologically late (dating to about 21–14 ka)7, and clear representations of therianthropes are uncommon6—the oldest such image is a carved figurine from Germany of a human with a feline head (dated to about 40–39 ka)8. Here we describe an elaborate rock art panel from the limestone cave of Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 (Sulawesi, Indonesia) that portrays several figures that appear to represent therianthropes hunting wild pigs and dwarf bovids; this painting has been dated to at least 43.9 ka on the basis of uranium-series analysis of overlying speleothems. This hunting scene is—to our knowledge—currently the oldest pictorial record of storytelling and the earliest figurative artwork in the world.A rock art panel from Sulawesi—dated to at least 43.9 thousand years ago—represents the oldest currently known figurative art in the world, and provides evidence of early storytelling through narrative hunting scenes.
The Preneolithic Stone Artefact of Leang Jarie Site: The Oldest Evidence of Maros Point Technolo... more The Preneolithic Stone Artefact of Leang Jarie Site: The Oldest Evidence of Maros Point Technology in the Toalean Culture Region, South Sulawesi. Maros Point is one type of flake tool that shows characteristics of the techno-complex Toalean from South Sulawesi. Early emergence of the Toalean Culture phase is still debated, but most experts agree that this tool only appeared no more than 4000 years ago and is positioned include with pottery or Neolithic period. The Maros Point is considered to be made by the early occupants of Sulawesi after the arrival and contact with Austronesian speakers migration in South Sulawesi. The problem is that the results of the latest research are contrary to previous opinions. This paper aims to show new evidence of excavation at the Leang Jarie Site, as the oldest Maros Point technology ca. 8,000 years ago in the Toalean Cultural Region. Maros Point is made simpler with the support flake without using reduction pattern of flake-blade technology. Flak...
This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early hu... more This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early human occupation site in the Late Pleistocene of Southeast Asia. Excavated originally by Ian Glover in 1975, this limestone rock-shelter in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, Indonesia, has long held significance in our understanding of early human dispersals into 'Wallacea', the vast zone of oceanic islands between continental Asia and Australia. We present new stratigraphic information and dating evidence from Leang Burung 2 collected during the course of our excavations at this site in 2007 and 2011-13. Our findings suggest that the classic Late Pleistocene modern human occupation sequence identified previously at Leang Burung 2, and proposed to span around 31,000 to 19,000 conventional 14C years BP (~35-24 ka cal BP), may actually represent an amalgam of reworked archaeological materials. Sources for cultural materials of mixed ages comprise breccias from the rear wall of the rock-s...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017
Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands separating the continental regions of Southeast Asia and Au... more Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands separating the continental regions of Southeast Asia and Australia, has yielded sparse evidence for the symbolic culture of early modern humans. Here we report evidence for symbolic activity 30,000–22,000 y ago at Leang Bulu Bettue, a cave and rock-shelter site on the Wallacean island of Sulawesi. We describe hitherto undocumented practices of personal ornamentation and portable art, alongside evidence for pigment processing and use in deposits that are the same age as dated rock art in the surrounding karst region. Previously, assemblages of multiple and diverse types of Pleistocene “symbolic” artifacts were entirely unknown from this region. The Leang Bulu Bettue assemblage provides insight into the complexity and diversification of modern human culture during a key period in the global dispersal of our species. It also shows that early inhabitants of Sulawesi fashioned ornaments from body parts of endemic animals, suggesting modern humans int...
Much remains unknown about the population history of early modern humans in southeast Asia, where... more Much remains unknown about the population history of early modern humans in southeast Asia, where the archaeological record is sparse and the tropical climate is inimical to the preservation of ancient human DNA1. So far, only two low-coverage pre-Neolithic human genomes have been sequenced from this region. Both are from mainland Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherer sites: Pha Faen in Laos, dated to 7939–7751 calibrated years before present (yr cal bp; present taken as ad 1950), and Gua Cha in Malaysia (4.4–4.2 kyr cal bp)1. Here we report, to our knowledge, the first ancient human genome from Wallacea, the oceanic island zone between the Sunda Shelf (comprising mainland southeast Asia and the continental islands of western Indonesia) and Pleistocene Sahul (Australia–New Guinea). We extracted DNA from the petrous bone of a young female hunter-gatherer buried 7.3–7.2 kyr cal bp at the limestone cave of Leang Panninge2 in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Genetic analyses show that this pre-Neolithic...
City as center of agglomeration is an important parameter to measure the growth of a region. The ... more City as center of agglomeration is an important parameter to measure the growth of a region. The completion of facilities and infrastructure will invite people to stay. So that, the annual population growth become unaviodable. By the growth of population, the public utility and settlement requirement also progressively increase which also implicatese on wider land requirement level. Karebosi's Revitalization Project as the answer of Makassar's City Government on society's the need on facilities, in its implementation apparently ignore contained historical points at in it. Since its early development on 16th October 2007, have evoked conflicts of a variety the interested parties. Makassar's City Government who give management rights to PT. Tosan Permai up to 30 year gets lampooning of a variety party, such from the public, academician, NGOs, Cultural Concerned Institution (Provincial Beurau of Tourism and BPPP) and environment observer. This writing tries to see Kare...
Eksplorasi yang telah dilakukan di Jeneponto diperoleh sebaran makam Islam kuno pada sepuluh situ... more Eksplorasi yang telah dilakukan di Jeneponto diperoleh sebaran makam Islam kuno pada sepuluh situs dengan variabilitas temuan makam yang sangat kompleks. Hubungan yang tampak jelas antara bentuk jirat, nisan dan ragam hias menunjukkan bahwa semakin besar dan tinggi ukuran jirat dan semakin variatif ragam hias suatu makam, maka tokoh yang dimakamkan memiliki strata yang tinggi pula. Bentuk jirat dengan varian ragam hias tidak berkorelasi positif terhadap bentuk jirat untuk melihat strata sosial orang yang dimakamkan. Hubungan bentuk jirat dengan bentuk nisan memperlihatkan bahwa pemakaian bentuk nisan paling banyak pada jirat monolit bersusun dua disusul dengan jirat bersusun tiga. Khusus untuk nisan menhir hanya digunakan pada makam tanpa jirat atau jirat yang tersusun dari batu-batu alam. Tampaknya tidak ada pola yang jelas mengenai penggunaan bentuk-bentuk nisan terhadap bentuk-bentuk jirat. Demikian pula dengan sistem ideologi, terlihat bahwa di daerah Jeaeponto, walaupun keperca...
The Indonesian island of Sulawesi harbours numerous early rock paintings of the endemic Sulawesi ... more The Indonesian island of Sulawesi harbours numerous early rock paintings of the endemic Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis). Several S. celebensis images, including one dated to at least 45,500 years ago (ka), portray these suids with an anatomical character not observed in the living species: a pair of teat-like protuberances in the neck area. This feature seems to be most consistent morphologically with neck “wattles”, cutaneous appendages only manifested in modern domestic swine (Sus scrofa) and some other domesticated ungulates (e.g. goats). The notion that the trait portrayed by the Late Pleistocene artists is a domestication character is clearly contentious. We therefore consider: (1) whether we have misidentified the trait – a common problem in rock art analysis; (2) whether wattles are a genuine domestication trait; and (3) if so, whether the notion that Pleistocene people domesticated S. celebensis is plausible. A clear resolution to all of these problems evades us; however, our investigation of this anomaly in the ancient rock art poses important questions about the nature and complexity of early human–pig relations in this island.
Major gaps remain in our knowledge of the early history of Homo sapiens in Wallacea. By 70–60 tho... more Major gaps remain in our knowledge of the early history of Homo sapiens in Wallacea. By 70–60 thousand years ago (ka), modern humans appear to have entered this distinct biogeographical zone between continental Asia and Australia. Despite this, there are relatively few Late Pleistocene sites attributed to our species in Wallacea. H. sapiens fossil remains are also rare. Previously, only one island in Wallacea (Alor in the southeastern part of the archipelago) had yielded skeletal evidence for pre-Holocene modern humans. Here we report on the first Pleistocene human skeletal remains from the largest Wallacean island, Sulawesi. The recovered elements consist of a nearly complete palate and frontal process of a modern human right maxilla excavated from Leang Bulu Bettue in the southwestern peninsula of the island. Dated by several different methods to between 25 and 16 ka, the maxilla belongs to an elderly individual of unknown age and sex, with small teeth (only M1 to M3 are extant) t...
Tulisan ini menyajikan studi tentang lanskap pada situs gua-gua yang memiliki gambar dari masa pr... more Tulisan ini menyajikan studi tentang lanskap pada situs gua-gua yang memiliki gambar dari masa prasejarah. Gua-gua prasejarah di bagian selatan Pulau Sulawesi merupakan kawasan gua dengan karakter lukisan telapak tangan dan fauna. Penelitian ini difokuskan pada lukisan fauna dan lanskap budaya. Metode yang digunakan diantaranya mengumpulkan hasil penelitian lukisan di wilayah ini kemudian mengklasifikasi jenis lukisan fauna dan keletakan situs berlukis tersebut dalam peta dengan menggunakan software GIS. Software ini juga digunakan untuk menghitung jarak situs terdekat dan terjauh dengan pantai di masa Pleistosen. Hasil identifikasi berdasarkan lukisan fauna, pola sebaran gua dan lingkungan masa lalu menjelaskan bahwa kawasan gua-gua prasejarah di bagian selatan Sulawesi merupakan lanskap budaya yang telah diokupasi oleh dua kelompok identitas yang berbeda berdasarkan karakter lukisannya.
Much remains unknown about the population history of early modern humans in southeast Asia, where... more Much remains unknown about the population history of early modern humans in southeast Asia, where the archaeological record is sparse and the tropical climate is inimical to the preservation of ancient human DNA1. So far, only two low-coverage pre-Neolithic human genomes have been sequenced from this region. Both are from mainland Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherer sites: Pha Faen in Laos, dated to 7939–7751 calibrated years before present (yr cal bp; present taken as ad 1950), and Gua Cha in Malaysia (4.4–4.2 kyr cal bp)1. Here we report, to our knowledge, the first ancient human genome from Wallacea, the oceanic island zone between the Sunda Shelf (comprising mainland southeast Asia and the continental islands of western Indonesia) and Pleistocene Sahul (Australia–New Guinea). We extracted DNA from the petrous bone of a young female hunter-gatherer buried 7.3–7.2 kyr cal bp at the limestone cave of Leang Panninge2 in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Genetic analyses show that this pre-Neolithic...
This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early hu... more This paper presents a reassessment of the archaeological record at Leang Burung 2, a key early human occupation site in the Late Pleistocene of Southeast Asia. Excavated originally by Ian Glover in 1975, this limestone rock-shelter in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, Indone-sia, has long held significance in our understanding of early human dispersals into 'Walla
Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands separating the continental regions of Southeast Asia and Au... more Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands separating the continental regions of Southeast Asia and Australia, has yielded sparse evidence for the symbolic culture of early modern humans. Here we report evidence for symbolic activity 30,000–22,000 y ago at Leang Bulu Bettue, a cave and rock-shelter site on the Wallacean island of Sulawesi. We describe hitherto undocumented practices of personal ornamentation and portable art, alongside evidence for pigment processing and use in deposits that are the same age as dated rock art in the surrounding karst region. Previously, assemblages of multiple and diverse types of Pleistocene " symbolic " artifacts were entirely unknown from this region. The Leang Bulu Bettue assemblage provides insight into the complexity and diversification of modern human culture during a key period in the global dispersal of our species. It also shows that early inhabitants of Sulawesi fashioned ornaments from body parts of endemic animals, suggesting modern humans integrated exotic faunas and other novel resources into their symbolic world as they colonized the biogeographically unique regions southeast of continental Eurasia.
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Papers by Basran Burhan