| Abstract: |
This contribution presents an analysis of the number of Sulawesi sites (summed probability) occupied per 500-year interval between 10,000 and 0 BP, based on radiometric dates. The number of occupied sites was low between 10,000 and 4500 BP, ranging between 1 to 4 per half-millennium. There were subsequent increases in the number of occupied sites per half-millennium to 58 between 4500 and 2000 BP, 913 between 2000 and 1000 BP, and over 30 between 1000 and 0 BP. These figures would be consistent with a scenario of substantial population increases at around 4500, 2000 and 1000 BP. However, care should be exercised in making a literal interpretation of these figures. For instance, with respect to the 45002500 BP period, the number of closed sites was highest during 45003500 BP and the number of open-air sites highest during 35002000 BP. Also, the large number of documented sites dating to the last millennium BP reflects a particular focus of Sulawesi archaeological research on sites related ethnohistorically to the Bugis and other major ethno-linguistic divisions in South Sulawesi.
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