Tracking Down the Artist (Part 4)

KOMPAS/ALOYSIUS BUDI KURNIAWAN

A prehistoric painting at one of the leang (cave) in Maros, South Sulawesi.

The karst caves in Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi, are believed to have been the prehistoric home of the Austromelanesoid people long before Austronesian speakers ever set foot in the region. The Austromelanesoid people are early Homo sapiens believed to have migrated from Africa to the archipelago, including Sulawesi, around 60,000 years ago.

However, no physical evidence in the form of human bones dating back to the era has been found in caves in Maros or other regions in Sulawesi. This remains a huge mystery for archeologists to solve.

New evidence was discovered in 2015. At the time, a team from the Makassar Archeology Agency chaired by Budianto Hakim unearthed a human skull and three molars at the Bala Metti prehistoric cave in Pattuku village, Bontocani district, Bone regency.

Based on the context of cultural layers and tools found on the site, Budianto strongly believed that the skull belonged to an Austromelanesoid human who lived 11,700 to 60,000 years ago. The cave in Bone has similar characteristics to the karst caves in Maros, including walls adorned with prehistoric paintings.

Nevertheless, any sense of certainty will have to wait for the completion of a still-ongoing research. If proven, the skull will be the first discovery of bones belonging to early Homo sapiens who lived in Sulawesi (Kompas, 29/4/2015).

KOMPAS/RENY SRI AYU

Researchers and archeologists are aided by students as they collect soil and rocks from Leang Bulu Buttue around the karst area in Maros, South Sulawesi, in an effort to find remains of ancient humans linked to the world’s oldest drawings. These are dated at around 40,000 years old and were found not far from the cave on Sept. 19, 2017. The excavation process involved researchers and archeologists from Australia and Indonesia.

At the same time, efforts to trace the early humans of Sulawesi are ongoing in Maros. The revelation of the age of a cave painting in Leang Timpuseng in 2014 was just one part of a series of important excavations and research conducted by Indonesian and Australian researchers since 2013.

One of the main goals of this research is to discover Sulawesi’s early settlers and the “artists” who made the prehistoric paintings. Therefore, the research went on until 2017.

The research was focused on Leang Bulu Bettue in Bantimurung district, Maros, just 1 kilometer away from Leang Timpuseng. A number of prints and evidence have led archeologists to excavate the cave.

In 2016, they found prehistoric jewelries some 30,000 years old in the cave. The jewelries comprised earrings and beads made from the teeth and bones of endemic mammals in Sulawesi, such as babirusa and bear cuscus. This has been claimed as the oldest pieces of jewelry to have been discovered in Indonesia.

The findings boosted archeologists’ spirits. They are now more convinced than ever that they are getting closer to discovering the remnants of the very first settler of Sulawesi.

KOMPAS/MOHAMAD FINAL DAENG

Several prehistoric tools made of rock were found in caves around the karst area in Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi. They are now stored at the Makassar Archeology Agency as shown in this photo taken on Friday (16/3/2018).

“We are lucky as, in our research, around 90 percent of old deposits are still trapped in the caves. In 2017, we dug deeper and in a wider area on the cave’s walls,” Budiato said.

The location was chosen because human fossils had always been found on the peripheries of cave walls.

“In the past, the deceased were treated with care and placed on higher and safer parts of the wall,” Budianto said.

The excavation was temporarily stopped in September 2017. The findings were taken to Australia and several other countries for further research. The results will determine whether or not the excavation will continue. They may also provide answers to several big mysteries.

(Reny Sri Ayu, Mohamad Final Daeng)

• Part 1: Traces of Sulawesi’s Early Humans
• Part 2: The Oldest Painting in the World
• Part 3: Magic Hands