Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/16293
Title: Hominins on Flores, Indonesia, by one million years ago
Contributor(s): Brumm, Adam (author); Jensen, Gitte M (author); van den Bergh, Gert D (author); Morwood, Michael J  (author); Kurniawan, Iwan (author); Aziz, Fachroel (author); Storey, Michael (author)
Publication Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1038/nature08844
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/16293
Abstract: Previous excavations at Mata Menge and Boa Lesa in the Soa Basin of Flores, Indonesia, recovered stone artefacts in association with fossilized remains of the large-bodied 'Stegodon florensis florensis'. Zircon fission-track ages from these sites indicated that hominins had colonized the island by 0.88 ± 0.07 million years (Myr) ago. Here we describe the contents, context and age of Wolo Sege, a recently discovered archaeological site in the Soa Basin that has 'in situ' stone artefacts and that lies stratigraphically below Mata Menge and immediately above the basement breccias of the basin. We show using 40Ar/39Ar dating that an ignimbrite overlying the artefact layers at Wolo Sege was erupted 1.02 ± 0.02 Myr ago, providing a new minimum age for hominins on Flores. This predates the disappearance from the Soa Basin of 'pygmy' 'Stegodon sondaari' and 'Geochelone' spp. (giant tortoise), as evident at the nearby site of Tangi Talo, which has been dated to 0.90 ± 0.07 Myr ago. It now seems that this extirpation or possible extinction event and the associated faunal turnover were the result of natural processes rather than the arrival of hominins. It also appears that the volcanic and fluvio-lacustrine deposits infilling the Soa Basin may not be old enough to register the initial arrival of hominins on the island.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Nature, 464(7289), p. 748-753
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1476-4687
0028-0836
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 060311 Speciation and Extinction
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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