Ref ID:	37334
Ref Type:	Book Section
Authors:	Forestier, Hubert
Title:	Stone tools in Palaeolithic Sumatra, Indonesia: From Homo erectus to the Hoabinhian
Date:	2024
Source:	Quaternary Palaeontology and Archaeology of Sumatra
DOI:	http://doi.org/10.22459/TA56.2024.10
Abstract:	Sumatra is regarded as a land bridge between mainland Southeast Asia and the Indonesian archipelago. This island played an important and strategic role in human migrations during the Pleistocene and the settlement of Indonesia. Since early prehistoric times, humans would have crossed the ancient Sundaland subcontinent, and would thus have inevitably passed through Sumatra before reaching Java. From the ancient Palaeolithic to the Neolithic, traces in the form of stone tools were left in Sumatra, initially by the first migrants, Homo erectus, then by Hoabinhian foragers and later the first farmers. Here, I present a comprehensive overview of stone tools as cultural markers preserved through time. First, this contribution briefly reviews the history of prehistoric research in Sumatra from the colonial period to the present. Second, I present new discoveries resulting from recent fieldwork, attempting to provide new insights into the prehistoric cultural steps on this vast and often-forgotten island.
Editors:	Louys, Julien Albers, Paul C. H. Van der Geer, Alexandra A. E.
Page Start:	219
Page End:	231