| Abstract: |
The Southern Mountains of Java, especially the eastern part which extends from the Oyo River to the easternmost part of Java, are a very important area in terms of prehistoric research. The limestone formations which occur in Gunung Sewu, at Campurdarat near Tulungagung and near Puger contain caves and rockshelters, most inhabited in prehsitoric times, Early investigations include the discovery of "the Sampung bone industry" in Lawa cave, Sampung, by van Es in 1926 and by van Stein Callenfels in 1928-1931. Research conducted since the early 1990s in caves in several limestone areas of the Southern Mountains, including Braholo cave in the western part of Gunung Sewu, Song Keplek cave in the eastern part of Gunung, Song Gentong near Tulungagung and some caves in Puger have revealed a chronology from the early Holocene to 4500 BP. All these caves were once inhabited by groups of people with similar archaeological assemblages and of "Australomelanesian" biological affinity. Based on similar finds in the northern part of the Southern Mountains, for instance from Ponorogo, Bojonegoro, Tuban and Situbondo, we can conclude that this cultural complex was widely distributed in the eastern part of Java. In some caves it is likely that it extends back into the Late Pleistocene.
|
