Kilu Cave
Alternative name | Site DJA |
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Location | Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea |
Region | Buka Island |
Coordinates | 5°20′8″S 154°41′14″E / 5.33556°S 154.68722°E[1] |
Altitude | 8 m (26 ft)[2] |
Type | limestone rockshelter |
Length | 17 m (56 ft) |
Width | 33 m (108 ft) |
Height | 4 m (13 ft) |
History | |
Periods | Pleistocene, Holocene |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 1987 |
Archaeologists | Stephen Wickler |
History of Bougainville |
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Kilu Cave is a paleoanthropological site located on Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Kilu Cave is located at the base of a limestone cliff, 65 m (213 ft) from the modern coastline.[3] With evidence for human occupation dating back to 30,000 years, Kilu Cave is the earliest known site for human occupation in the Solomon Islands archipelago.[3] The site is the oldest proof of paleolithic people navigating the open ocean i.e. navigating without land in sight. To travel from Nissan island to Buka requires crossing of at least 60 kilometers of open sea. The presence of paleolithic people at Buka therefore is at the same time evidence for the oldest and the longest paleolithic sea travel known so far.
Background
Before the discovery of Kilu Cave in 1987, the earliest sites showing evidence for human occupation in the Solomon Islands archipelago were Lapita sites dating back to around 3,000 years old.[3] However, archaeologists had long believed that human occupation in the Solomon Islands occurred much earlier, based on linguistic and anthropological evidence.[3]
During the
Reaching Kilu Cave required crossing the
Stratigraphy
Kilu Cave was first occupied during the Pleistocene from around 29,000 to 20,000 BP.[5] The earliest radiocarbon date (ANU-5990: 28740 +/- 280 BP) was made on the shell of a sea snail (Nerita)[5] and using the southern curve (SHCAL13) calibrates to between 29,850-31,560 BC cal (95% probability).
After a hiatus during the end of the Pleistocene the cave is reoccupied more intensively during the Holocene from around 9,000 to 5,000 BP.[5] The hiatus in occupation was most likely due to changes in the sea level that left Kilu Cave far away from the coastline.[3] Some post-Lapita Buka phase pottery was also found at Kilu Cave in its upper layers after around 2,500 BP.[4][3][5]
Fauna
The people of Kilu Cave exploited a wide range of terrestrial and marine animals for food.
The bones of both reef and
Several extinct species were discovered at Kilu Cave. The extinction and extirpation of various bird and mammalian fauna on Baku Island appeared to coincide with the arrival of the Lapita culture.[3]
77 bird bones were recovered from the site.[8] The bones came from 18 different species of landbirds, 7 of which are unspecified or now extinct and 11 of which are now extirpated from Buka Island.[8]
Five species of rat endemic to the Solomon Islands were identified. Two new species of rat,
Archaeobotany
Kilu Cave is currently the only site in
Artefacts
The artefact assemblage at Kilu Cave consists primarily of simple flaked tools made from volcanic rock (~ 80% of all artefacts), quartz, calcite and chert.[5][6] 214 such artefacts were discovered at the site; most of these lithic artefacts (200) came from the Pleistocene layer.[6] Shell artefacts were also recovered from the site. Shell artefacts made from Turbo marmoratus were found in the Pleistocene layer, while shell artefacts made from Terebralia palustris and Tridacna were found in the Holocene layer.[6] Perforated shark teeth were also found in the Holocene layer.[6] 44 pottery sherds were discovered in the upper layers of the site and typed to the Buka phase of the Lapita culture.[6]
Citations
References
- Lilley, Ian (2010). Early Human Expansion and Innovation in the Pacific (PDF). ISBN 9782918086055. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
- ISBN 9780631167273.
- Spriggs, Matthew (2005). "BOUGAINVILLE'S EARLY HISTORY: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE". In Regan, Anthony; Griffin, Helga (eds.). Bougainville before the conflict. Pandanus Books. ISBN 9781921934247.
- Steadman, David W. (2006). Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. ISBN 9780226771427.
- Summerhayes, Glenn R.; Ford, Anne (2014). "Late Pleistocene Colonisation and Adaptation in New Guinea Implications for Modelling Modern Human Behaviour". In Dennell, Robin (ed.). Southern Asia, Australia and the Search for Human Origins. Cambridge University Press.
- Wickler, Stephen (1990). "Prehistoric Melanesian Exchange and Interaction: Recent Evidence from the Northern Solomon Islands" (PDF). Asian Perspectives. 29 (2).
- Wickler, Stephen (2001). The Prehistory of Buka: A Stepping Stone Island in the Northern Solomons (Terra Australis, 16) (PDF). ISBN 9780731555000.