1. Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia
2. Geological Research and Development Centre, Jalan Diponegoro 57, Bandung 40122, Indonesia
3. Naturalis, the National Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
4. Department of Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology, School of Human and Environmental Studies, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
5. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales 2522, Australia
6. Department of Archaeology, A14, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia

Correspondence to: Adam Brumm¹Mark W. Moore⁴ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.B. (Email: adam.brumm@anu.edu.au) or M.J.M. (Email: mmorwood@pobox.une.edu.au).

Abstract

In the Soa Basin of central Flores, eastern Indonesia, stratified archaeological sites, including Mata Menge, Boa Lesa and Kobatuwa (Fig. 1), contain stone artefacts associated with the fossilized remains of Stegodon florensis, Komodo dragon, rat and various other taxa. These sites have been dated to 840–700 kyr bp (thousand years before present)¹. The authenticity of the Soa Basin artefacts and their provenance have been demonstrated by previous work^{2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, but to quell lingering doubts⁷, here we describe the context, attributes and production modes of 507 artefacts excavated at Mata Menge. We also note specific similarities, and apparent technological continuity, between the Mata Menge stone artefacts and those excavated from Late Pleistocene levels at Liang Bua cave, 50 km to the west. The latter artefacts, dated to between 95–74 and 12 kyr ago^{8, 9}, are associated with the remains of a dwarfed descendent of S. florensis, Komodo dragon, rat and a small-bodied hominin species, Homo floresiensis, which had a brain size of about 400 cubic centimetres^{10, 11}. The Mata Menge evidence negates claims that stone artefacts associated with H. floresiensis are so complex that they must have been made by modern humans (Homo sapiens)⁷.

Figure 1: Early and Middle Pleistocene sites in the Soa Basin of Flores.

1, Kobatuwa; 2, Mata Menge; 3, Lembahmenge; 4, Boa Lesa; 5, Ola Bula; 6, Tangi Talo; 7, Wolo Milo; 8, Wolokeo; 9, Sagala; 10, Dozu Dhalu; 11, Kopowatu; 12, Ngamapa; 13, Pauphadhi; 14, Deko Weko; 15, Malahuma. The dashed areas indicated with a V represent volcanoes. The broken line indicates the approximate boundary of the Ae Sissa River drainage basin.

High resolution image and legend (71K)

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.