- Researchers discovered the artefacts on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi
- Findings include beads made from animals native to the island
- The artefacts imply that spiritual beliefs of humans may have transformed
as they met new animals on the journey from Asia to Australia
Researchers in Indonesia have discovered stunning pieces of jewellery and art that date back 30,000 years to the last ice age.
Artefacts include beads made from babirusa ('pig deer') tooth, and a pendant made from the bone of a bear that is only found in that area.
The findings suggest that the people who lived there at that time adapted their spiritual beliefs based on the animals they met on the journey from Asia to Australia.
Researchers in Indonesia have discovered stunning pieces of jewellery and
art that date back 30,000 years to the last ice age. Artefacts include beads
made from babirusa ('pig deer') tooth, and a pendant made from the bone
of a bear that is only found in that area (pictured)
Researchers from Griffith's University, Queensland, discovered the artefacts while studying the island chains east of continental Eurasia, known as 'Wallacea.'
Dr Adam Brumm, who co-led the study, said: 'Scientists have long been curious about the cultural lives of the first Homo sapiens to inhabit the lands to the immediate north of Australia sometime prior to 50,000 years ago - part of the great movement of our species out of Africa.
'Some have argued that Pleistocene human culture declined in sophistication as Homo sapiens ventured beyond India into the Southeast Asian tropics and the island chains east of continental Eurasia, known as Wallacea.
'However, the onset of new research programs in Wallacea is steadily dismantling this view.'
The researchers discovered 40,000-year-old cave art in a cave called Leang Bulu Bettue, on the Wallacean island of Sulawesi.
The art is some of the world's oldest, and is a unique assemblage of previously unknown symbolic objects.
The artefacts, which date between 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, consist of disc-shaped beads made from a babirusa tooth, and a pendant made from the bone of a bear cuscus – a large possum-like marsupial only found on Sulawesi.
The researchers also discovered 'portable' art objects, including stones incised with geometric patterns, although the meaning remains unknown.
Extensive evidence of rock art production was also found at the site, including discarded ochre pieces, ochre stains on tools, and a bone tube that may have been a 'blow-pipe' for creating hand stencil motifs.
The team says these early examples of art and jewellery imply that the
spiritual beliefs of modern humans may have transformed as they
encountered new animals on the journey from Asia to Australia.
Dr Michelle Langley, co-author of the study, said: 'Previously, assemblages of multiple and diverse types of Pleistocene 'symbolic' artifacts were entirely undocumented from Wallacea.
'It was also unknown if or how Sulawesi cave artists adorned their bodies or whether their artistic repertoire even extended beyond rock paintings.
'Our understanding of the symbolic lives of these people is now much richer.'
The team says these early examples of art and jewellery imply that the spiritual beliefs of modern humans may have transformed as they encountered new animals on the journey from Asia to Australia.
Dr Brumm said: 'Sulawesi, in particular, is renowned among biogeographers for its extremely high rate of species endemism - essentially all of the island's land mammals, except for bats, occur nowhere else on earth.
'The discovery of ornaments manufactured from the bones and teeth of two of Sulawesi's flagship endemics - babirusas and bear cuscuses - and a previously recorded painting of a babirusa dated to at least 35,400 years ago, shows that humans were drawn to these dramatically new faunal species.
The discovery of ornaments manufactured from the bones and teeth of
two of Sulawesi's flagship endemics - babirusas and bear cuscuses
(pictured) - shows that humans were drawn to these dramatically new
faunal species, according to the researchers.
'This may indicate that the conceptual world of these people changed to incorporate exotic animals.'
This 'symbolic negotiation' with new species may have been fundamental to the later settlement in Australia, where there would have been huge numbers of new animals, the researchers believe.
They speculate that the human journey through the unique zone of Wallacea might have prompted new ways of thinking about the natural world.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...Indonesia.html
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