We provide the first numerical age constraints for the palaeontological assemblage and associated sediment from Ngalau Sampit, Sumatra, one of M. Eugène F.T. Dubois' noted sites that he excavated in 1889, and of which we present a transcript of his unpublished report. A combination of U-series, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Luminescence (pIR-IRSL) methods was employed. The three tooth samples yield 1σ consistent combined U-series/ESR ages (mean age of 105 ± 9 ka, 1 s.d.), supporting the chronological integrity of the fossil assemblage at Ngalau Sampit. Three breccia samples yield internally 1σ consistent pIR-IRSL age estimates (mean age of 93 ± 6 ka, 1 s.d.), suggesting that the breccia may represent one single depositional event. All these results are compatible with the U-series age estimates previously obtained on post-depositional carbonate formations. We cannot exclude that the existing, and systematic, age difference between ESR and pIR-IRSL methods (~12 ka on average) may reflect the difference in the dated events (death of the animals vs. sediment burial). However, this apparent deviation is most likely not significant (mean ages are in close agreement a 1σ) and results from the existing uncertainty around the evaluation of the gamma dose rate, which partly arises from the absence of in situ dosimetry. Despite this uncertainty, all the numerical ages consistently and systematically correlate the breccia and associated fossil assemblage to MIS 5 (a finer correlation to sub-stages within MIS 5 would most likely be too speculative at this stage). Ngalau Sampit represents only the third site from the Pandang Highlands to be radiometrically dated, after Lida Ajer and Ngalau Gupin, and the second site explored and recorded by Dubois to have associated dates. Finally, Ngalau Sampit is the only site in Sumatra that chronologically correlates to MIS 5, and thus with the regionally important site of Punung in Java.
The famous naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace collected natural history specimens throughout Southeast Asia from 1854–1862. One of the least known of the players in Wallace’s story is his Malay assistant Ali, from Sarawak. This article combines the surviving evidence to bring Ali and his role in the expedition out of the shadows. Several corrections to traditional accounts are emphasized; these include the fact that Ali was not always a collecting assistant, but at first a cook; Ali did not travel with Wallace for the rest of his voyage, but left him for an entire year; and Ali may have collected the majority of Wallace’s bird specimens. In addition, Ali’s wages and itinerary are reconstructed for the first time. It is concluded that Ali made a major contribution to Wallace’s scientific understanding of the Malay archipelago, not just with new ornithological discoveries like Wallace’s Standard Wing (Semioptera wallacii) , but by his contributions of knowledge.
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