174,000 km 2 ) durante Wallacea, per biogeographically distinct boule of oceanic islands situated between continental Levante and Australia (Fig. 1). The earliest archaeological evidence is from Talepu, a Middle Pleistocene site durante the south of the island (1). The Talepu findings comprise mediante situ stone artifacts associated with fossils of extinct terrestrial megafauna (1). Dated esatto

194 esatto 118 thousand years (ka), these artifacts may reflect initial colonization by an as-yet unidentified archaic hominin (1). recensione single muslim It is not yet excretion when anatomically modern humans (AMH) first colonized Sulawesi. AMH appear puro have been established per mainland Southeast Levante (Sunda) by 73 onesto 63 ka (2). They were also possibly per Pleistocene Australia–New Guinea (Sahul) by 69 esatto 59 ka (3). There is some controversy, however, over the validity of the latter age estimates (4), which are based on recent excavations at Madjedbebe rock shelter sopra northern Australia (3). Durante some models of early human settlement durante Sahul, the large Sulawesi landmass would have been the first “stop” on a series of ocean crossings through northern Wallacea onesto the western tip of New Guinea (5). If the oldest published dates for Madjedbebe (3) are affecte, then Homo sapiens may have reached Sulawesi up esatto 69 puro 59 ka.

450-km 2 lowland “tower” karst region con the island’s southwestern peninsula (Fig. 1). Some 300 caves and shelters with parietal imagery have now been identified sopra this sezione. Two cave art sites are also known from the Bone karsts

35 km to the east (Fig. 1). At least two chronologically distinct styles of rock art are evident on the basis of scientific dating and studies of superimposition. These comprise (i) an initial style phase of well-established Pleistocene antiquity (6, 7) and (ii) a later phase that postdates the arrival of Austronesian-speaking farmers and the onset of the “Neolithic” farming transition around 4 ka (9). Where niente affatto sequence of superimposition is evident, the former is distinguishable from the latter durante terms of subject matter, technique, and preservation (6, 10).

Materials and methods

24 to 16 ka (18). Evidence for rock art production of per broadly similar antiquity is found sopra karst areas in the adjacent island of Borneo: At Lubang Jeriji Saleh, verso high-level limestone cave con Kalimantan, U-series dating indicates verso minimum age of 40 ka for verso figurative painting of a Bornean banteng (Bos javanicus lowi) (19).

U-series isotope dating at Leang Tedongnge

12 mm 2 ) overlaid the red pigment associated with one of the rear feet of pig 1 on the main rock art panel (Fig. 5, Per onesto C). This speleothem was too small mediante size esatto remove with verso rotary tool. Hence, we used per small chisel sicuro prise it from the cave wall surface. The recovered sample (LTed3) comprises multiple layers of dense and nonporous calcite. The portion of speleothem we removed from the cave wall extends from its outer surface through the pigment layer and into the underlying rock face (Fig. 5, D and Ancora). After we had removed it from the cave wall, we noted that the portion of the underlying paint layer previously covered by the coralloid speleothem had che tipo di away with the latter-that is, the rock art pigment was affixed preciso the luogo of the sampled speleothem. Per the laboratory, we micro-excavated LTed3 durante arbitrary “spits” that extended over the entire surface of the speleothem. This produced per series of four aliquots measuring less than 1 mm mediante thickness (Fig. 5, F esatto G). We observed the red pigment layer corresponding preciso the artwork across the entire length of the sample. The pigment layer was also clearly visible durante the rear portion of the sample that was partially covered by translucent calcite from the cave wall (Fig. 5E). Durante total, we obtained three U-series age determinations for the LTed3 speleothem (Table 1). The resultant dates yielded indistinguishable ages within uncertainties (Table 1). This suggests closed-system conditions for uranium and thorium (Materials and Methods). The results of U-series dating indicate verso minimum age of 45.5 ka for the large figurative image of a suid at Leang Tedongnge (Fig. 3 and Materials and Methods).