Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19371
Title: Age and context of the oldest known hominin fossils from Flores
Contributor(s): Brumm, Adam (author); van den Bergh, Gerrit D (author); Puspaningrum, Mika R (author); Wibowo, Unggul P (author); Insani, Halmi (author); Sutisna, Indra (author); Westgate, John A (author); Pearce, Nick J G (author); Duval, Mathieu (author); Meijer, Hanneke J M (author); Aziz, Fachroel (author); Sutikna, Thomas (author); Storey, Michael (author); van der Kaars, Sander (author); Flude, Stephanie (author); Morwood, Michael J  (author); Kurniawan, Iwan (author); Alloway, Brent V (author); Setiawan, Ruly (author); Setiyabudi, Erick (author); Grun, Rainer (author); Moore, Mark  (author)orcid ; Yurnaldi, Dida (author)
Publication Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1038/nature17663
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/19371
Abstract: Recent excavations at the early Middle Pleistocene site of Mata Menge in the So'a Basin of central Flores, Indonesia, have yielded hominin fossils attributed to a population ancestral to Late Pleistocene 'Homo floresiensis'. Here we describe the age and context of the Mata Menge hominin specimens and associated archaeological findings. The fluvial sandstone layer from which the in situ fossils were excavated in 2014 was deposited in a small valley stream around 700 thousand years ago, as indicated by 40Ar/39Ar and fission track dates on stratigraphically bracketing volcanic ash and pyroclastic density current deposits, in combination with coupled uranium-series and electron spin resonance dating of fossil teeth. Palaeoenvironmental data indicate a relatively dry climate in the So'a Basin during the early Middle Pleistocene, while various lines of evidence suggest the hominins inhabited a savannah-like open grassland habitat with a wetland component. The hominin fossils occur alongside the remains of an insular fauna and a simple stone technology that is markedly similar to that associated with Late Pleistocene 'H. floresiensis'.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Grant Details: ARC/DP1093342
ARC/DP1096558
Source of Publication: Nature, 534(7606), p. 249-253
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1476-4687
0028-0836
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 210103 Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Americas
210199 Archaeology not elsewhere classified
210102 Archaeological Science
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 430102 Archaeology of Asia, Africa and the Americas
430101 Archaeological science
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 950502 Understanding Asia's Past
950599 Understanding Past Societies not elsewhere classified
970121 Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280113 Expanding knowledge in history, heritage and archaeology
130702 Understanding Asia’s past
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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