Climate, people and faunal succession on Java, Indonesia: evidence from Song Gupuh

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Abstract

Song Gupuh, a partially collapsed cave in the Gunung Sewu Limestones of East Java, Indonesia, contains over 16 m of deposits with a faunal sequence spanning some 70 ka. Major changes in the range of animals represented show the impact of climate change and humans. The Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene was a period of maximum biodiversity. Human use of Song Gupuh and other cave sites in the region also intensified significantly from ca. 12 ka, together with a new focus on exploitation of small-bodied species (macaque monkeys and molluscs), the first evidence for import of resources from the coast, and use of bone and shell tools. Human activity, especially after the onset of the Neolithic around 2.6 ka, subsequently contributed to a progressive loss of many species from the area, including tapir, elephant, Malayan bear, rhino and tiger, and this extinction process is continuing. We conclude by discussing the biogeographical significance of Song Gupuh in the context of other sites in Java (e.g. Punung, Wajak) and further afield (e.g. Liang Bua).

Introduction

The continental island of Java has one of the richest and most diverse fossil faunal sequences in the world. This diversity reflects the migration of new species from mainland Asia during periods of glacially lowered sea level, and in situ (endemic) evolution of the fauna during the intervening periods when Java was an island. Major gaps in our understanding of this faunal succession persist, however, because of uncertainties about the age of key deposits, their taphonomy and environmental context, and the exact provenance of finds. The faunal sequence at Song Gupuh in East Java helps fill the 70-ka gap from the beginning of the last glacial period to the present.

Song Gupuh, meaning ‘Flee Cave’ in the local Javanese language, is a partially collapsed limestone cave on the east margin of the Gunung Sewu (Thousand Mountains) region near the provincial capital, Punung. It is located at the base of a limestone hill, 2 km north of the Baksoko/Kladen River and 10 km from the south coast at an altitude of 339 m above sea level (Fig. 1). The limestones in this karst region appear to weather relatively rapidly and have formed a landscape characterised by numerous rounded hills riddled with caves, sinkholes and dolines.

Archaeological and palaeontological investigation in the region began in 1936 with the work of von Koenigswald, who collected large artefacts along the Basoko River (the Pacitanian Industry) and excavated at two fossiliferous breccia sites, Punung I and II, which yielded the type assemblage for the Punung Fauna, a distinct unit in the proposed biostratigraphic sequence for Java (e.g. Von Koenigswald, 1939, De Vos, 1983, Van den Bergh et al., 2001). Other cave sites previously excavated in the Gunung Sewu include Song Agung, Song Terus, Song Keplek, Song Tritis, Gua Braholo and Song Tabuhan Many open Neolithic sites characterised by pottery and adze flaking floors also occur, while immediately to the north, in the Solo River depression, lie many of the classic Indonesian Homo erectus and associated fossil fauna sites, such as Sangiran, Trinil, Ngandong and Sambungmacan (e.g. Ithara et al., 1994, Semah et al., 1998) (Fig. 1).

Since the Gunung Sewu had emerged from the sea by the Middle Pleistocene (Simandjuntak and Barber, 1996), limestone caves in the region with deeply stratified deposits or breccias could provide evidence on long term changes in fauna, including the life and times of H. erectus, as well as subsequent events, such as the arrival of modern humans (Westaway et al., 2007a). More recent parts of the cultural sequence also document the process of economic intensification in the early Holocene; the appearance of new technologies, such as agriculture, ground stone adzes, pottery and metal; and the impacts of human population growth (e.g. Simanjuntak and Prasetyo, 2004).

Section snippets

The site

Song Gupuh is 50 m long, 13 m wide, 13 m high at the entrance, faces north and is situated on the south side of a karst cone (Fig. 2, Fig. 3). It was formed as an underground cavern through dissolution, which was then exposed by collapse processes along a central east–west axis. The margins of the original cave are marked by the present-day shelters at the base of the scarps flanking two large cone karst features on either side of the road to Punung. Song Gupuh would have comprised the southern

Discussion

The Song Gupuh sequence contains only extant fauna, but with species representation at any one time varying in response to the impacts of climate change and humans. For instance, the archaeological record shows that people intensified their use of the abundant animal resources from the Terminal Pleistocene, and continued hunting and gathering long after the arrival of the Neolithic and farming some 2.6 ka years ago. The associated Holocene history of fauna in the region is clearly one of

Acknowledgements

The work at Song Gupuh was funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council to M.J.M. We excavated there from 9th February to 25th March 2004 under Asisten Deputi Urusan Arkeologi Nasional Permit Number 172/SB/ARNAS.II/05, and Badan Kesbang dan Linmas (Pacitan) Permit No. 072/159/408.45/2005; and from 9th February to 25th March 2004 under Asisten Deputi Urusan Arkeologi Nasional Permit Number 172/SB/ARNAS.II/05, and Badan Kesbang dan Linmas (Pacitan) Permit Number 072/159/408.45/2005. We

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