Island migration and foraging behaviour by anatomically modern humans during the late Pleistocene to Holocene in Wallacea: New evidence from Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Island Migration, Resource Use, and Lithic Technology by Anatomically Modern Humans in Wallacea

“…Since 2016, the Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional Indonesia (National Center of Archeological Research) and R. Ono have conducted excavation of two caves (Topogaro 1 and 2) and one rockshelter (Topogaro 7). Here, we report on the excavation results of Topogaro 1 and 2 (Figure 4), since both caves have traces of human occupation from the early Holocene and late Pleistocene [39], while Topogaro 7 is mainly an early Metal Age burial site [40].…”

“…The bone elements for these small mammals include femur, humerus, tibia, ulna, radius, pelvis, mandible, premaxilla, teeth and canine. For chiropteran bones, at least one fruit bat species (Pteropodidae) and one insectivorous taxon were identified but the exact species is yet unknown [39].…”

“…), and as middle to large-sized mammals, marsupials (mainly Phalangeridae), reptiles like snakes (Serpentes) and lizards (Lacertila), as well as variety of mollusks were excavated from Topogaro 2. In general, the remains of wild pigs were commonly recovered both from the Holocene and Pleistocene layers in Topogaro caves, while Anoa were mainly excavated from the Pleistocene layers [39]. A phalanx of Anoa is associated with some chert flake tools and charcoals dated to 29 ka cal.…”

“…They both occupy fresh and brackish water habitats in river and mangrove environments. Limited numbers of Arcidae, Conidae, Neritidae, Potamididae shells also indicate shell fishing of marine and brackish water species to some extent [39]. The numbers and volume of mollusks are quite limited in the Pleistocene layers and significantly increase in the Holocene layers.…”

“…They reached Wallacea and Sahul (Australia and New Guinea) by at least 50 to 45 ka, and by 40 to 30 ka had arrived at the Japanese and Ryuku Islands in maritime Asia. There is no material evidence for reconstructing the early seafaring technology including their vessels, although the authors found evidence for the processing of grassy plants potentially for the manufacture of cords, bindings and woven materials, such as baskets, nets and ropes from the traceological analysis of lithic tools from Leang Sarru and Goa Topogaro [32,38,39]. However, as Bird and others show [52], the early migration into Sahul required intentional seafaring.…”