Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea

Adam Brumm; Michelle C Langley; Mark W Moore; Budianto Hakim; Muhammad Ramli; Iwan Sumantri; Basran Burhan; Andi Muhammad Saiful; Linda Siagian; Suryatman Suryatman; Ratno Sardi; Andi Jusdi; Abdullah Abdullah; Andi Pampang Mubarak; Hasliana Hasliana; Hasrianti Hasrianti; Adhi Agus Oktaviana; Shinatria Adhityatama; Gerrit D van den Bergh; Maxime Aubert; Jian-xin Zhao; Jillian Huntley; Bo Li; Richard G Roberts; E Wahyu Saptomo; Yinika Perston; Rainer Grün

doi:10.1073/pnas.1619013114

Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea

Adam Brumm
, Michelle C Langley
, Mark W Moore
, Budianto Hakim
, Muhammad Ramli
, Iwan Sumantri
, Basran Burhan
, Andi Muhammad Saiful
, Linda Siagian
, Suryatman Suryatman
, Ratno Sardi
, Andi Jusdi
, Abdullah Abdullah
, Andi Pampang Mubarak
, Hasliana Hasliana
, Hasrianti Hasrianti
, Adhi Agus Oktaviana
, Shinatria Adhityatama
, Gerrit D van den Bergh
, Maxime Aubert

Jian-xin Zhao, Jillian Huntley, Bo Li, Richard G Roberts, E Wahyu Saptomo, Yinika Perston, Rainer Grün

Archaeology and Paleoanthropology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

66 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4105-4110
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume	114
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1619013114
Publication status	Published - 31 Dec 2017

Keywords

Archaeology
Archaeological Science
Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Americas

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10.1073/pnas.1619013114

https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20717

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Brumm, A., Langley, M. C., Moore, M. W., Hakim, B., Ramli, M., Sumantri, I., Burhan, B., Saiful, A. M., Siagian, L., Suryatman, S., Sardi, R., Jusdi, A., Abdullah, A., Mubarak, A. P., Hasliana, H., Hasrianti, H., Oktaviana, A. A., Adhityatama, S., van den Bergh, G. D., ... Grün, R. (2017). Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(16), 4105-4110. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1619013114

@article{b2b6706029244a93b11539aa1922dcc1,

title = "Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea",

abstract = "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{\textendash}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.",

keywords = "Archaeology, Archaeological Science, Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Americas",

author = "Adam Brumm and Langley, \{Michelle C\} and Moore, \{Mark W\} and Budianto Hakim and Muhammad Ramli and Iwan Sumantri and Basran Burhan and Saiful, \{Andi Muhammad\} and Linda Siagian and Suryatman Suryatman and Ratno Sardi and Andi Jusdi and Abdullah Abdullah and Mubarak, \{Andi Pampang\} and Hasliana Hasliana and Hasrianti Hasrianti and Oktaviana, \{Adhi Agus\} and Shinatria Adhityatama and \{van den Bergh\}, \{Gerrit D\} and Maxime Aubert and Jian-xin Zhao and Jillian Huntley and Bo Li and Roberts, \{Richard G\} and \{Wahyu Saptomo\}, E and Yinika Perston and Rainer Gr{\"u}n",

year = "2017",

month = dec,

day = "31",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1619013114",

language = "English",

volume = "114",

pages = "4105--4110",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences",

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Brumm, A, Langley, MC, Moore, MW, Hakim, B, Ramli, M, Sumantri, I, Burhan, B, Saiful, AM, Siagian, L, Suryatman, S, Sardi, R, Jusdi, A, Abdullah, A, Mubarak, AP, Hasliana, H, Hasrianti, H, Oktaviana, AA, Adhityatama, S, van den Bergh, GD, Aubert, M, Zhao, J, Huntley, J, Li, B, Roberts, RG, Wahyu Saptomo, E, Perston, Y & Grün, R 2017, 'Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114, no. 16, pp. 4105-4110. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1619013114

TY - JOUR

T1 - Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea

AU - Brumm, Adam

AU - Langley, Michelle C

AU - Moore, Mark W

AU - Hakim, Budianto

AU - Ramli, Muhammad

AU - Sumantri, Iwan

AU - Burhan, Basran

AU - Saiful, Andi Muhammad

AU - Siagian, Linda

AU - Suryatman, Suryatman

AU - Sardi, Ratno

AU - Jusdi, Andi

AU - Abdullah, Abdullah

AU - Mubarak, Andi Pampang

AU - Hasliana, Hasliana

AU - Hasrianti, Hasrianti

AU - Oktaviana, Adhi Agus

AU - Adhityatama, Shinatria

AU - van den Bergh, Gerrit D

AU - Aubert, Maxime

AU - Zhao, Jian-xin

AU - Huntley, Jillian

AU - Li, Bo

AU - Roberts, Richard G

AU - Wahyu Saptomo, E

AU - Perston, Yinika

AU - Grün, Rainer

PY - 2017/12/31

Y1 - 2017/12/31

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Archaeology

KW - Archaeological Science

KW - Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Americas

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1619013114

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1619013114

M3 - Article

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 114

SP - 4105

EP - 4110

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

IS - 16

ER -

Early human symbolic behavior in the Late Pleistocene of Wallacea

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