Fishing in life and death: Pleistocene fish-hooks from a burial context on Alor Island, Indonesia

O’Connor, Sue; Mahirta,; Carro, Sofía C. Samper; Hawkins, Stuart; Kealy, Shimona; Louys, Julien; Wood, Rachel

doi:10.15184/aqy.2017.186

Cited by 47 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…However, the archaeological record of Kisar also demonstrates that continual subsistence on the island was not possible without the co-occurrence of advanced maritime technologies and a vibrant exchange network. The former was clearly present in Wallacea for thousands of years before HSE was settled, as evidenced by the number and types of maritime artifacts preserved on both Timor and Alor (O'Connor et al 2011(O'Connor et al , 2014(O'Connor et al , 2017. But it was only with the introduction of an exchange network approximately 15,000 years ago, with concomitant economic and/or familial ties with neighboring islands, that the ecological constraints of small island living were broken, and that Kisar was able to be successfully occupied.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kisar and the Archaeology of Small Islands in the Wallacean Archipelago

O’Connor

Mahirta

Kealy

et al. 2018

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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The occupation of small islands presents particular challenges for people largely related to limited terrestrial resources and susceptibility to natural disasters. Nevertheless, the challenges and risks inherent in maintaining stable populations on small islands can be offset or overcome through the use of maritime technologies and exchange networks. The archaeology of Here Sorot Entapa rockshelter (HSE) on Kisar Island in the Wallacean Archipelago provides an unparalleled record for examining these issues in Southeast Asia. Kisar is the smallest of the Wallacean islands known to have a Pleistocene occupation record, and one of the smallest permanently inhabited today. Our results indicate that Here Sorot Entapa was first occupied in the terminal Pleistocene by people with advanced maritime technology who made extensive use of local marine resources and engaged in social connections with other islands through an obsidian exchange network. As a result, populations appear to have been maintained on the island for approximately 6,000 years. In the early Holocene occupation at HSE ceased for unknown reasons, and the site was not reoccupied until the mid-Holocene, during which time a major change in the lithic resources can be observed and the exchange network appears to have ceased.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kisar and the Archaeology of Small Islands in the Wallacean Archipelago

O’Connor

Mahirta

Kealy

et al. 2018

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

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“…In the Lesser Sundas an incompletely excavated inhumation from Tron Bon Lei Cave, Alor, has been dated by a rotating fish hook found around the neck and an associated fragment of charcoal to between 11,500 and 10,500 cal. bp (O'Connor et al 2017).…”

Section: Emergence Of Social Network and Ideologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An exception appears to be an incompletely excavated inhumation from Tron Bon Lei Cave, Alor, dated to between 11,500 and 10,500 cal. bp, that has rotating fish hooks around the neck (O'Connor et al 2017). After 4500 cal.…”

Section: Emergence Of Social Network and Ideologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Philippines fromc.14,000 to 4,000 cal.bpin Regional Context

Pawlik¹,

Piper

2018

CAJ

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In this paper, we review the current Philippine archaeological record between c. 14,000 and 4000 cal. bp in the context of our developing understanding of human adaptation to post-glacial environments at the end of the Pleistocene, and the cultural and technological changes that were occurring across Southeast Asia during this period. Due to their location at the northwestern fringes of Wallacea, close proximity to Borneo and Taiwan, and the long Palawan coastline bordering the southern margins of the South China Sea, the Philippines have likely acted as a conduit for the movements of people, material culture and ideas between the islands of Southeast Asia throughout prehistory. Current research suggests that the Philippines were possibly embedded in larger maritime networks from the Late Pleistocene onwards. This appears to have been a period of significant social change and technological innovation, as illustrated by the appearance of new organic and inorganic technologies and the emergence of diverse burial traditions across Southeast Asia. These included sophisticated fishing strategies, techniques of hafting and composite tool production, and long-distance interaction across the Philippine archipelago and Island Southeast Asia perhaps as far as Near Oceania.

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“…In association with the vast zooarchaeological assemblages, three human individuals were documented in two of the test pits excavated (Test Pit B and C). One of the individuals was interred with grave goods and associated with two large cobbles covered in ocher (O'Connor et al, 2017b). The other two individuals are comprised of disarticulated skeletal elements, mainly cranial remains, also associated with cobble manuports.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Somewhere beyond the sea: Human cranial remains from the Lesser Sunda Islands (Alor Island, Indonesia) provide insights on Late Pleistocene peopling of Island Southeast Asia

Carro

Gilbert

Bulbeck

et al. 2019

Journal of Human Evolution

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The migration of anatomically modern humans (AMH) from Africa to every inhabitable continent included their dispersal through Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) to Australia. Significantly, this involved overwater dispersal through the Lesser Sunda Islands between Sunda (continental Southeast Asia) and Sahul (Australia and New Guinea). However, the timing and direction of this movement is still debated. Here, we report on human skeletal material recovered from excavations at two rockshelters, known locally as Tron Bon Lei, on Alor Island, Indonesia. The remains, dated to the Late Pleistocene, are the first anatomically modern human remains recovered in Wallacea dated to this period and are associated with cultural material demonstrating intentional burial. The human remains from Tron Bon Lei represent a population osteometrically distinct from Late Pleistocene Sunda and Sahul AMH. Instead, morphometrically, they appear more similar to Holocene populations in the Lesser Sundas. Thus, they may represent the remains of a population originally from Sunda whose Lesser Sunda Island descendants survived into the Holocene.

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Fishing in life and death: Pleistocene fish-hooks from a burial context on Alor Island, Indonesia

Abstract: JakartaAlor Island

Cited by 47 publications

References 22 publications

Kisar and the Archaeology of Small Islands in the Wallacean Archipelago

Kisar and the Archaeology of Small Islands in the Wallacean Archipelago

The Philippines fromc.14,000 to 4,000 cal.bpin Regional Context

Somewhere beyond the sea: Human cranial remains from the Lesser Sunda Islands (Alor Island, Indonesia) provide insights on Late Pleistocene peopling of Island Southeast Asia

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