Journal article
Hominins on Sulawesi during the Early Pleistocene
Nature, Vol.646, pp.378-383
09/10/2025
PMID: 40770096
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Abstract
The dispersal of archaic hominins beyond mainland Southeast Asia (Sunda)1 represents the earliest evidence for humans crossing ocean barriers to reach isolated landmasses2,3,4. Previously, the oldest indication of hominins in Wallacea, the oceanic island zone east of Sunda, comprised flaked stone artefacts deposited at least 1.02 ± 0.02 million years ago (Ma) at Wolo Sege on Flores5. Early hominins were also established on the oceanic island of Luzon (Philippines), as indicated by both stone artefacts and cut marks on faunal remains dating to between 777 and 631 thousand years ago (ka) at Kalinga6. Moreover, fossils of extinct, small-bodied hominins occur on Flores (Homo floresiensis)7,8,9,10,11,12 and Luzon (Homo luzonensis)13. On Sulawesi, the largest Wallacean island, previous excavations revealed stone artefacts with a minimum age of 194 ka at the open site of Talepu in the Walanae Depression14, long preceding the earliest known presence of modern humans (Homo sapiens) in the region (73–63 ka in Sunda)15. Here we show that stone artefacts also occur at the nearby site of Calio in fossiliferous layers dated to at least 1.04 Ma and possibly up to 1.48 Ma, using palaeomagnetic dating of sedimentary rocks and coupled Uranium-series (U-series) and electron-spin resonance (US–ESR) dating of fossil teeth. The discovery of Early Pleistocene artefacts at Calio suggests that Sulawesi was populated by hominins at around the same time as Flores, if not earlier.
Details
- Title
- Hominins on Sulawesi during the Early Pleistocene
- Creators
- Budianto Hakim - Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi NasionalUnggul Prasetyo Wibowo - Bandung Institute of TechnologyGerrit D van den Bergh - University of WollongongDida Yurnaldi - Meteorological, Climatological, And Geophysical AgencyRenaud Joannes-Boyau - Southern Cross UniversityAkin Duli - Hasanuddin UniversitySuryatman - Departemen Arkeologi, Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, IndonesiaRatno Sardi - Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi NasionalIndah Asikin Nurani - Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi NasionalMika Rizki Puspaningrum - Bandung Institute of TechnologyIrfan Mahmud - Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi NasionalAfdalah Haris - Indonesian Association of Archaeologists (IAAI Komda Sulawesi)Khairun Al Anshari - Indonesian Association of Archaeologists (IAAI Komda Sulawesi)Andi Muhammad Saiful - Hasanuddin UniversityP Arman Bungaran - Indonesian Association of Archaeologists (IAAI Komda Sulawesi)Shinatria Adhityatama - Griffith UniversityPutra Hudlinas Muhammad - Indonesian Association of Archaeologists (IAAI Komda Sulawesi)Anwar Akib - Pemerhati dan Pelestari Budaya di Soppeng, Soppeng, IndonesiaNani Somba - Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi NasionalFakhri - Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi NasionalBasran Burhan - Griffith UniversityZubair Mas'ud - Pusat Kolaborasi Riset Arkeologi Sulawesi (BRIN-Universitas Hasanuddin), Makassar, IndonesiaMark W Moore - University of New EnglandYinika L Perston - Griffith UniversityWenjing Yu - Southern Cross UniversityMaxime Aubert - Southern Cross UniversityAdam Brumm - Griffith University
- Publication Details
- Nature, Vol.646, pp.378-383
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Grant note
- This research was funded by a research grant awarded to B.H. by Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN)) and an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship awarded to A.B. (FT160100119), with further financial support from Griffith University.
- Identifiers
- 991013307126702368
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2025.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article