excursion guide to the pleistocene hominid sites

Excursion guide to

the Pleistocene hominid sites

in Central and East Java compiled by Christine Hertler* and Yan Rizal° * JW Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany ° ITB, Bandung, Indonesia

March 2005

Sections on geology and stratigraphy by: Dr. ir. Yan Rizal Institut Teknologi Bandung Departemen Geologi Teknik Jl. Ganesa No. 10 Bandung 40132 Indonesia Sections on paleontology and palaeoanthropology by: Dr. Christine Hertler JW Goethe University Zoological Institute Department of Vertebrate Paleobiology Siesmayerstr. 70 60054 Frankfurt/Main Germany

Excursion Guide to Hominid Sites in Java Joint Excursion July-August 2005 JWG University, Frankfurt, + ITB, Bandung

3

Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5

Geography .......................................................................................................................... 5 Geology .............................................................................................................................. 5 Stratigraphy ........................................................................................................................ 6 Paleontology....................................................................................................................... 7 Palaeoanthropology.......................................................................................................... 11

Programme ......................................................................................................................... 13 Excursion sites .................................................................................................................... 14

Sangiran area .................................................................................................................... 14 Geology .................................................................................................................... 14 Stratigraphy .............................................................................................................. 14 Paleontology............................................................................................................. 16 Palaeoanthropology.................................................................................................. 18

Trinil................................................................................................................................. 20 Geology and Stratigraphy......................................................................................... 20 Paleontology............................................................................................................. 21 Palaeoanthropology.................................................................................................. 21

Ngandong: Upper Pleistocene Terrace of Solo ................................................................ 23 Geology and Stratigraphy......................................................................................... 23 Paleontology............................................................................................................. 23 Palaeoanthropology.................................................................................................. 24

Kedung Brubus................................................................................................................. 26 Geology and Stratigraphy......................................................................................... 26 Paleontology............................................................................................................. 26 Palaeoanthropology.................................................................................................. 28

Mojokerto (Perning)......................................................................................................... 29 Geology and Stratigraphy......................................................................................... 29 Paleontology............................................................................................................. 32 Palaeoanthropology.................................................................................................. 32

Literatur.............................................................................................................................. 33


5

Introduction

Geography Lowlands prevail in East and part of Central Java. Originally, East Java’s lowlands were covered by deciduous rainforest and characterized climatically by heavy annual monsoon rainfalls and pronounced dry periods. While the climate is basically still the same, the landscape today has considerably been altered by agriculture and human settlements. In the North between Purwodadi and Mojokerto, the lowlands are replaced by a ridge, the Kendeng hills, extending more or less in an E-W direction (Fig. 1). The highest altitude is reached at Gunung Butak between Ngawi and Jombang with 899 m. In general altitudes between 300 and 500 m occur. In the South a series of volcanoes extends along the coast, the Southern mountains. The volcanic mountain range reaches considerable altitudes around 3,000 m. Two of them are especially important for the hominid sites in East Java, i. e. Mount Merapi (Gunung Merapi) west of Sangiran and Mount Lawu (Gunung Lawu) east of Sangiran. All the volcanoes give rise to rivers. Among the larger ones is the Solo river (Bengawan Solo) originating on the southern slopes of Mt. Lawu. It takes a northern course and passes the Sangiran area before turning eastward. Along its course, Bengawan Solo crosses a large part of East Java, passing all famous hominid sites like Trinil, Ngawi and Ngandong, and finally discharges north of Surabaya into the Java Sea.

Fig. 1: Geographic map of Java

Geology The area is characterised by the Kendeng anticlinorium1 extending from the Sangiran area in Central Java in the West to the Perning area in East Java. The Kendeng anticlinorium is a mainly Miocene-Pliocene geosyncline topographically forming the Kendeng hills. It was uplifted and folded at the end of the Plio- and during the Lower Pleistocene, and peneplained until the end of Middle Pleistocene. A second uplift occurred during the Upper Pleistocene and persisted until the Holocene. The sediments are mainly non-clastic, except of the volcanic deposits and fluviatile sediments formed syn- or post orogenetically by adjacent volcanoes. The Bengawan Solo already existed in the Middle Pleistocene. Since the Upper Pleistocene, it traverses the Kendeng anticlinorium between Ngawi and Cepu. A number of terraces along its course reflect the younger tectonic history of this area. To the North the Kendeng anticlinorium passes into the Rembang anticlinorium.

1 a series of synclines and anticlines together forming an anticlinal uparched zone


6

Stratigraphy The Kendeng hills can be traced between Surabaya in the East and Purwodadi in the West. They consist of a number of synclines and anticlines together forming an anticlinal uparched zone (= anticlinorium). The main axes of the structures are E-W trending. The Kendeng hills were formed during the Mio-, Plio- and Pleistocene, but only the upper Pliocene and Pleistocene parts are cropping out in the area. The Pliocene was subdivided by Duyfjes (1936) into the Lower and the Upper Kalibeng formation. The Lower Kalibeng formation mainly consists of marine marls with abundant Globigerina and other pelagic foraminifera. The Upper Kalibeng formation shows three different facies, corraligene limestone with large foraminifera in the West, marls with small foraminifera and glauconitic sands (epineritic to littoral) in the central part, while near Mojokerto in the East intercalations of diatomaceous sediments increasingly occur (brackish water). The overlying Pleistocene is divided into the Pucangan formation at the base, the Kabuh formation in the middle and the Notopuro formation at the top. The latter may be locally developed as fluviatile terrace (Tab. 1). The Pucangan formation, named after a hill north of Jombang, is developed in two different facies. In its west part the anticlinorium is developed entirely as a volcanic facies, especially in the upper part of the formation. In the vicinity of Trinil the Pucangan formation is still entirely volcanic. Towards the South, near Sangiran, only the lower part still represents the volcanic facies, while the upper part is developed as limnic clay. According to Watanabe and Kadar (1985) this facies is called Sangiran formation. The Kabuh formation was formed during the uplift of the Kendeng hills and the Southern mountains. Large amounts of clastics were deposited by rivers in the basin, in particular along its peripheral parts. In the central part, where the uplift started earlier, the Kabuh formation is absent. Cross-bedded sandstones and conglomerates characterize this formation. Vertebrate fossils have been found in numerous localities.

Age Stratigraphy Faunal level+

Sangiran° Trinil* Gunung Butak* Mojokerto* Holocene

Alluvium Alluvium Alluvium recent

Pleistocene

upper -

terraces

-

-

-

-

-

-

Punung

Ngandong

middle

Notopuro

Upper Bapang

Lower Bapang

Notopuro

Kabuh

Kabuh

Notopuro

Kabuh

Kabuh

Notopuro

Kabuh

Kabuh

unknown

Kedung Brubus

Trinil HK

lower Upper Sangiran

Lower Sangiran Pucangan Pucangan Pucangan

Cisaat

Satir

Pliocene upper Upper Kalibeng Upper Kalibeng Upper Kalibeng Upper Kalibeng Sonde

lower Lower Kalibeng Lower Kalibeng Lower Kalibeng Lower Kalibeng small foraminifera

Miocene - ? ? ? Lepidocyclina

Tab. 1: Stratigraphy of East Java; * after Duyfjes 1936, ° after Watanabe & Kadar 1985, + after de Vos et al. 1994


7

Paleontology The Pleistocene mammal fauna in Java is composed of a rather constant set of large mammal groups encompassing several bovid and cervid species including the endemic bovid Duboisia, hippopotami, rhinoceros and stegodont proboscideans (Fig. 3, Tab. 2). Throughout the Pleistocene new mammal species arrive until finally the Punung fauna, i.e. the youngest fauna still considered as Pleistocene, is solely composed of species, which are either extant or at least historically known to occur in Java. The recent faunal level is described as Pongo-Homo sapiens fauna. A major faunal turnover seems to have occurred early in the Pleistocene. There are major differences in composition between the oldest fauna known, the Satir fauna representing the faunal level of the Tetralophodon-Geochelone fauna, and the composition of younger, so called Stegodon-Homo erectus faunas. However, the Satir fauna is insufficiently known and traces of the turnover are thus faint. Six mammal faunal levels are distinguished in the Pleistocene of Java (de Vos et al. 1994). In sequential order, beginning with the oldest they are called Satir, Cisaat, Trinil HK, Kedung Brubus, Ngandong, and Punung fauna, respectively. The type locality of the oldest two faunas, Satir and Cisaat, is situated in the western part of Central Java, close to the town of Bumiayu. Both of them do, however, also occur at Sangiran.

Fig. 2: Type localities of the Pleistocene faunal levels in Java The Satir fauna is poorly described. Only four species are known. Its composition clearly differs from younger faunal assemblages which are considered characteristic for the Pleistocene in Java. The Satir fauna contains a mastodont proboscidean (Sinomastodon bumiajuensis), a remarkably small hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon simplex), and the giant tortoise Geochelone. Besides, there are unidentified deer. Due to the occurrence of Geochelone, this fauna is generally understood as representing swampy or mangrove conditions. The Cisaat fauna is also insufficiently known. It consists of a large cat and the well-known proboscidean Stegodon trigonocephalus, the fossil Sivalik hippopotamus Hexaprotodon sivalensis, and an endemic pig, presumably Sus stremmi. Different cervid (undescribed) and bovid species (undescribed) do also occur. The Cisaat fauna is commonly understood as indicating an open woodland environment. The type locality of the Trinil HK fauna is Trinil in East Java. Due to Dubois’ and Selenka’s excavations the Trinil HK fauna is quite well known. It includes two species of small mammals, the porcupine Hystrix (Acanthion) brachyura and Rattus trinilensis, and fifteen large mammal species. Most abundant are cervids and bovids, i.e. Muntiacus muntjak, Axis lydekkeri, undescribed cervid species, the fossil water buffalo Bubalus palaeokerabau, feral cattle Bibos palaesondaicus, and the endemic antelope-like bovid Duboisia santeng. Besides there are elements occuring for the first time, e.g. the Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), two different primate species (Trachypithecus cristatus and Macaca fascicularis),


8

a dog species (Mececyon trinilensis), and an endemic tiger subspecies (Panthera tigris trinilensis). Small cats do also occur (Prionailurus bengalensis). Since the older faunal assemblages are not well known, dating the Trinil HK fauna does not provide a reliable first appearance date (FAD) for these species. The proboscidean species Stegodon trigonocephalus is present and represents the only proboscidean species known from this fauna. The suffix ‘HK’ is added to the name of the fauna to distinguish it strictly from a Trinil fauna which has been described earlier (von Koenigswald 1935), but is likely to contain species from different sites and different stratigraphic levels. Due to the occurrence of large herbivores and Stegodon, this fauna is considered to indicate an open woodland environment. The Kedung Brubus fauna is defined on the basis of Dubois’ finds from Kedung Brubus. Although his collection from Kedung Brubus contains a smaller total number of specimens compared with the collection from Trinil, the number of species indicates a well-balanced representation. Its composition may thus be considered as quite well known. This faunal level is characterized by the occurrence of a huge extinct pangolin, Manis palaeojavanica, as well as the simultaneous occurrence of Stegodon and Elephas among the proboscideans. The large tiger is still present and a hyaena occurs for the first time (Hyaena brevirostris). The only fossil otter known from Java (Lutrogale palaeoleptonyx) belongs to the Kedung Brubus fauna. Besides, the recent tapir (Tapirus indicus) and two different rhinoceros species, Javan and Indian rhino (or Rhinoceros sondaicus and R. unicornis), appear. The Sivalik hippopotamus is present and two different species of suids occur (Sus macrognathus and S. brachygnathus). The predominant part of fossils is represented by cervids and bovids. Another endemic bovid, Epileptobos groeneveldtii, occurs. Non-human primates and small mammals are absent in this fauna. While the latter may be due to sampling procedures, the absence of primates probably reflects a different ecological setting. Due to the occurrence of large herbivores including two different genera of proboscideans it is considered to indicate an open woodland environment. Moreover, two different species of another large grazer, the rhino, are present, while clearly forest dwelling species, e.g. monkeys or tapir are comparatively rare. This implies rather dry conditions and an open landscape. The Ngandong fauna is known only from excavations carried out through the Geological survey in the early 1930ies. The collection requires re-examination, descriptions and determinations need to be checked. The composition of this fauna is therefore considered as only partially known. It consists of a number of different species already occurring in the Kedung Brubus fauna, e.g. Stegodon as well as Elephas, the tapir and the Sivalik hippopotamus. Due to the occurrence of large herbivores, it is also considered to indicate an open woodland environment. The Punung fauna, presumably the latest Pleistocene fauna, contains only such species still extant today or at least known from historic reports. Since a number of primates occur, among them Orangutan, it is considered to represent a forested environment.


9

Satir

Cis

aat

Trin

il H

K

Ked

ung

Bru

bus

Nga

ndon

g

Punu

ng

unce

rtai

n

distribution

Primates

Colobidae Presbytis (Trachypithecus) cristatus extant in Sumatra + Kalimantan

Presbytis comata extant, endemic in Java

Cercopithecidae Macaca nemestrina extant in Sumatra + Kalimantan

Macaca fascicularis extant

Hylobatidae Hylobates syndactylus extant in Sumatra

Pongidae Pongo pygmaeus extant in Sumatra + Kalimantan

Hominidae Homo erectus

Homo sapiens

Pholidota

Manidae Manis palaeojavanica endemic

Lagomorpha

Leporidae Caprolagus lapis

Insectivora

Soricidae Echinosorex sp. extant in Sumatra + Kalimantan

Rodentia

Hystricidae Hystrix (Acanthion) brachyura extant in Sumatra + Kalimantan

Hystrix gigantea

Muridae Rattus trinilensis

Carnivora

Canidae Mececyon trinilensis

Megacyon merriami

Cuon spec.

Ursidae Ursus (Helarctos) malayanus extant in Sumatra + Kalimantan

Mustelidae Lutrogale palaeoleptonyx

Lutrogale robusta

Felidae Panthera tigris ssp. ? extant in Sumatra

Panthera pardus extant, endemic in Java

Megantereon sp.

Hemimachairodus zwierzyckii

Homotherium ultimum

Neofelis nebulosa extant in Sumatra and Java

Prionailurus bengalensis

Hyaenidae Hyaena brevirostris

Crocuta crocuta extant in Africa

Proboscidea

Mastodontidae Sinomastodon bumiajuensis endemic in Java

Stegodontidae Stegodon trigonocephalus endemic in Java

Stegodon? hypsilophus ? not from type locality

Elephantidae Elephas hysudrindicus

Elephas maximus extant in Sunda-Land and mainland Asia

Perissodactyla

Chalicotheridae Nestotherium cf. sivalense

Tapiridae Tapirus indicus extant in Sumatra

Rhinocerotidae Rhinoceros sondaicus extant, endemic in Java

Rhinoceros unicornis extant in mainland Asia


10

Satir

Cis

aat

Trin

il H

K

Ked

ung

Bru

bus

Nga

ndon

g

Punu

ng

unce

rtai

n

distribution

Artiodactyla

Suidae Sus stremmi

Sus brachygnathus ?

Sus macrognathus

Sus sangiranensis ?

Sus vittatus

Sus barbatus extant in Sumatra

Anthracotheridae Merycopotamus dissimilis

Hippopotamidae Hexaprotodon simplex

Hexaprotodon sivalensis

Cervidae Muntiacus muntjak

unidentified cervids ?

Axis lydekkeri

Rusa sp.

Bovidae Naemorhedus sumatrensis extant in Sumatra

Naemorhedus sivalensis

Duboisia santeng endemic in Java

Epileptobos groeneveldtii

Bubalus palaeokerabau

Bubalus sp. extant in Sunda-Land and mainland Asia

unidentified bovids ?

Bibos palaeosondaicus

Bos (Bibos) javanicus extant in Sunda-Land and mainland Asia

Tab. 2: Composition of different faunal assemblages in the Pleistocene from Java (after de Vos et al. 1997, van den Bergh et al. 2001, de Vos & Vu 2001)

Fig. 3: Schematic composition of mammalian faunas in the Pleistocene of Java and occurrence at different fossil sites (after de Vos et al. 1997, van den Bergh et al. 2001, de Vos & Vu 2001). Shaded animals represent fossil species; coloured animals represent extant species.


11

Palaeoanthropology With very few exceptions most of the Javanese hominid sites are located in East Java (Fig. 4). Most of them are moreover situated along the banks of a single river, Bengawan Solo, like perls on a string. Whereas the deposits at Sangiran cover a stratigraphic sequence and contain fossils of different age, only a single hominid bearing horizon is present at the other sites. The oldest among them may well be dated to >1.5 Ma. However, datings of hominid bearing deposits in Java are notoriously arguable, because either the stratigraphic origin of hominid fossils is insufficiently known, stratigraphic correlations have changed in the meantime, or the genesis of the hominid bearing horizons proper is unknown.

Fig. 4: Hominid sites in Java Although there are indications of evolution under isolated conditions during the Pleistocene, all Pleistocene hominid remains are generally believed to represent Homo erectus. They differ, however, considerably in age and thus in morphology. The oldest hominid fossils in East Java are known only from Sangiran. The hominid fossils originating from the Sangiran formation are regularly plastically deformed, i.e. they cannot be used for morphological studies in a straightforward manner. The jaw fragments, due to their compactness and stability less distorted than the skulls and skull fragments, show however some basal features, e.g. extraordinary size and robusticity. The younger hominids from the Lower Bapang formation are comparable in age to those from Trinil HK. The Hauptknochenschicht at Trinil is correlated with corresponding layers at Sangiran. The Trinil skullcap hominid is thus likely to have approx. the same age as the hominid fossils from the upper hominid bearing horizon at Sangiran. The similarities between the Trinil skullcap and the Sangiran 2 calvarium support this correlation. According to correlations based on corresponding faunal levels the next younger set of hominid fossils has been found at Kedung Brubus and Mojokerto. The fossils themselves cannot be readily compared since they represent different anatomical parts (fragment of lower jaw vs. calvarium) and different developmental stages (Kedung Brubus represents a subadult or adult individual; Mojokerto a quite young child of approx. two years). The next younger hominid finds are coming from Ngandong. A series of eleven hominid skulls has been found during field campaigns of the Geological Survey. These skull fragments possess a slightly larger cranial capacity compared to the finds from Trinil and Sangiran, but the characteristic Homo erectus morphology is still present. A single hominid tooth has been described from Punung as yet. Since hominid specimens from younger, Holocene sites like Wajak doubtlessly belong to Homo sapiens, the transition from Pleistocene to Holocene represents a very interesting period in terms of human evolution. Basically, there are two possibilities for the course of hominid evolution; either this transition indicates an imigration event of Homo sapiens from the Asian mainland. It is then necessary to find an explanation for the disappearance of Homo erectus in Java (e.g. Storm


12

2001). Alternatively, the transition may have been accomplished by earlier Homo erectus under conditions of insular isolation. It would then indicate an evolutionary event on a local or regional scale, running in parallel to similar events on the mainland and/or other continents (Wolpoff 1989).


13

Programme

24.07. departure Frankfurt am Main 25.07. arrival Jakarta / transfer to Bandung 26.07. joint seminar of Indonesian and German participants at the Institut Teknologi

Bandung to discuss geology, stratigraphy, paleobiology and paleoanthropology of the sites to be visited

27.07. visit of the collections at the Geological Research and Development Centre and Geological Museum, Dr. Fachroel Aziz, with demonstration of the Sangiran hominid collection

28.07. transfer to Solo (Surakarta) 29.+30.07. field trip to Sangiran including a visit to the museum and trips to the sites in

Ngebung, Brangkal etc. 31.07. transfer to Ngawi 01.08. field trip to Trinil including a visit to the museum, visit of the site 02.08. field trip to Ngandong hominid site 03.08. field trip to Kedung Brubus 04.08. transfer to Mojokerto 05.08. field trip to Mojokerto hominid site 06.08. transfer to Solo/Yogyakarta 07.08. visit of Borobudur temple 08.08. visit of Gadjah Mada university, Prof. Teuku Jacob and Dr. Etty Indriati,

including a demonstration of the hominid finds from Mojokerto and Ngandong 09.08. transfer to Bandung 10.08. Concluding seminar of the Indonesian and German participants at the Institut

Teknologi Bandung 11.08. transfer to Jakarta / departure 12.08. arrival Frankfurt am Main


14

Excursion sites

Fig. 5: Index map of Central and East Java (from Watanabe & Kadar 1985, p. 8)

Sangiran area

Geology The dome-shaped anticline of Sangiran is among the most important Pleistocene hominid localities on a worldwide scale. Although the name Sangiran has been attributed, the central village is actually called Krikilan and is located in Kewedanan Kali Jambe. The village is located approx. 12 km NNE of Surakarta (Solo). Geologically the area consists of an anticline with an axis trending more or less in a N-S direction. It is traversed by Kali Cemoro, a tributary of Bengawan Solo, coming down the slopes of Mt. Merapi. A number of smaller rivers eroded the anticline, so that the elevation of the center is presently lying below the level of the surrounding terrain. This produces an inverted topography like a soup plate.

Stratigraphy The deposits at Sangiran cover a large stratigraphic sequence from Pliocene into the Holocene. The oldest beds crop out in the centre of the anticline. They belong to the upper Kalibeng Formation, here consisting of blue-gray marine marls and clay. Locally it contains numerous gastropods and pelecypods, among which the genus Placenta is particularly remarkable. Concretions occur in many areas often containing fossilized crabs. A rich ostracod fauna indicates deposition in brackish water. Upwards in the profile, the beds are getting sandier. They contain a rich mollusc fauna indicating beach deposits. Banks of a large oyster occur. The top consists of limestone almost entirely composed of Balanus indicating deposition in the tidal zone. The succession of facies indicates a regression culminating in the deposition of beds with Corbicula, a fresh water pelecypod.


15

Fig. 6: Geological Map of Sangiran area (from Sartono 1959) Volcanic deposits unconformably overlie the Corbicula Beds. They were clearly formed by a lahar stream2. The lahar eroded part of the subsurface, so that marine shells from the underlying Upper Kalibeng formation are now embedded in conglomeratic rock. Locally, few vertebrates are found in this deposit. On account of the selective erosion the volcanic bed now forms a distinctive ridge with an almost circular shape, encircling the softer beds of the Pliocene Upper Kalibeng and the overlying Lower Pleistocene black clay. In two sites the Kali Cemoro broke through this ridge, forming a narrow canyon. In part at least, these sites have been predetermined by faults. The lahar deposits, included in the Pleistocene deposits are covered by the Sangiran (or Pucangan) formation developed as black clay. It is about 30 – 40 m thick. On top of the base of the clay deposits sandy layers with marine mollusks are found, e. g. Arca, Melogena and others. As the black clays contain Melania and other freshwater gastropods, the sandy layers represent a sudden marine ingression. The water in the basin remained brackish for a while, indicated by the presence of large amounts of diatomeans (Coscinodiscus) sometimes forming almost pure diatomacean beds. The interruption has formed beds with a total thickness of about 15 m. Afterwards the normal sedimentation of limnic black clays continued with numerous Melania (Brotia) fossils, often forming white bands in the dark sediment. The total thickness of the Sangiran (or Pucangan) formation is about 200 m. Upwards the deposits become increasingly sandy ending in a sandy–conglomeratic layer of about 1 m thickness, which is at numerous sites interrupted by the deposition of a calcareous breccia. This boundary layer (= “Grenzbank”) is exceedingly rich in vertebrate remains, comparable to the main fossiliferous layer (= “Hauptknochenschicht”) at Trinil. It also contains a comparable fauna and has

2 volcanic mud flow


16

yielded several hominid mandibles attributed to a rather robust Homo erectus, initially called Meganthropus. This conglomerate is considered as the base of the Kabuh Formation, which also contains crossbedded sandstones in its upper part, characteristically deposited by the old Bengawan Solo and formed after the uplift of Southern Mountains and Kendeng Hills. In many localities the sandstones contain vertebrate remains. Especially towards the top of the formation conglomerate banks are increasingly common, and the pebbles are to a larger part composed of silicified rocks originating from the Southern Mountains. Some of the boulders show flaking and have the appearance of implements. Those flakes are sometimes attributed to the culture of Homo erectus in Java. Unconformably overlying the sandstones and conglomerates of the Kabuh Formation a coarse conglomerate with numerous volcanic elements appears, possibly also representing a lahar and indicating increased volcanic activity. It corresponds to the Notopuro Formation, which does not contain a distinct vertebrate fauna here. According to the stratigraphy the following picture of the geological history emerges. In the Pliocene the area was occupied by shallow sea. The blue-gray claystone deposited in the epineritic to littoral zone overlie the characteristic Globigerina marls of the Kalibeng Formation. Globigerina marls represent deep sea deposits and usually indicate an open sea environment. The claystones were deposited in a more restricted basin. During the regression the sea got shallower; eventually beach deposits and Balanus limestone (tidal zone, littoral) were formed. Increasing volcanic activity is indicated by overlying lahar deposits. By then the volcanic activity of the Lawu Volcano also interrupted the connection of the basin with the Java Sea, a connection probably already restricted earlier by the uplift of the Kendeng Hills. As a result the bay developed into a fresh water basin, an enormous lake, in which black clay was deposited. At least once the sea again broke through the barrier and deposited a thin bed of marine layers, followed by brackish water with diatomaceous deposits. The lake persisted for a considerable period of time ended by a new period of volcanic activity depositing the coarse Notopuro Formation. Close to the Kendeng Hills black clays are not developed, while the presence of volcanic beds indicates continued volcanic activity. The eruption centers have been located in or close to the Kendeng Hills, e.g. Gunung Butak.

Paleontology In the lower part of the black clay formed in the lake apart from the limnic mollusc shells, numerous remains of vertebrates with more or less pronounced amphibic habitat preferences are found, like crocodiles, tortoises (Geochelone sp.) and comparatively small hippopotami (Hexaprotodon simplex). The assemblage represents the faunal level of the Satir fauna. Characteristic for this fauna is the rare occurrence of a large tortoise (Geochelone atlas) and a mastodont (Sinomastodon bumiajuensis), being the only mastodont proboscidean known from Java. Besides the deposits below tuff 9 at Sangiran (Fig. 7), there is just a single other site known in Java where this assemblage occurs, i.e. Bumiayu in the western part of Central Java. At Sangiran the fossils are usually rather well preserved. In the upper part of the black clay deposits, a large number of other animals can be found which must have lived along the lake shores, their remains having been carried into the lake by rivers and streams. Among them are rhinoceros, possibly a saber-toothed tiger (Hemimachairodus), larger hippopotami and numerous large deer. Some remains of Stegodon have been found, but no elephant species. The deposits contain a different hippopotamus species, Hexaprotodon sivalensis, having migrated into Java from India, i.e. via an indomalayan route. The same species is found in the Siwalik deposits on the Himalayan foothills. The faunal association is called Cisaat fauna (according to de Vos et al. 1994; Jetis fauna of von Koenigswald 1935, 1940).


17

Fig. 7: Stratigraphy of the Sangiran area (from Watanabe & Kadar 1985, p. 373)


18

In the lower part of the fluviatile Bapang (or Kabuh) formation the deposits contain a fauna which is similar to the faunal association found in the main fossiliferous layer at Trinil. It is characterised by a quite constant set of artiodactyls, i.e. large deer and cattle, e.g. Bos (Bibos) palaesondaicus and a water buffalo Bos (Bubalus) palaeokerabau, as well as small deer (Axis lydekkeri) and an antelope species (Duboisia santeng). Moreover, a large pig species frequently occurs. The proboscideans are solely represented by stegodonts. In the upper part of the Bapang formation apart from Stegodon another proboscidean species is present, i.e. Elephas hysudrindicus, representing another migrant from India. This faunal association is attributed to the Kedung Brubus fauna. The biostratigraphic succession of mammals at Sangiran underwent considerable reinterpretation (Leinders et al. 1985, de Vos et al. 1994). The exact stratigraphic position of a large number of fossils in the collections is not sufficiently known. There is thus a large number of fossils in the collections, the stratigraphic origin of which is uncertain, e.g. the remains of the saber-tooth Hemimachairodus. In recent ecological communities, carnivores contribute only a small number to the total sum of individuals. The number of carnivore individuals is much lower than the number of artiodactyl individuals. This effect is reflected and, depending on the depositional environment, sometimes even enhanced in fossil remains of mammal communities. This explains the relative rarity of carnivore remains. The mammal stratigraphy for the Pleistocene in Java is therefore regularly based on other sites, although Sangiran belongs certainly among the most profilic sites in Southeast Asia.

Palaeoanthropology Hominid fossils at Sangiran have been found in the Sangiran and the Bapang formation alike, i.e. in a lacustrine as well as fluviatile environment. Sangiran is among the most prolific hominid sites on a world-wide scale. A selected list of hominid specimens is given in table . The older set of hominids from the Sangiran formation is morphologically characterised by its robusticity, e.g. mandibles and mandibular fragments are considerably larger and rather compact compared to those originating from the younger Bapang formation. There are only few skull fragments which sometimes underwent plastic deformation, e.g. the fragmented skull Sangiran 4. The older hominid fossils have been initially attributed either to a different genus, Meganthropus, or differentiated as a particularly robust hominid species, Pithecanthropus robustus (Weidenreich 1945) and Pithecanthropus modjokertensis (von Koenigswald 1950). The younger set of hominid finds originating from the Bapang formation represents the classical Southeast Asian Homo erectus (initially called Pithecanthropus erectus). Sangiran 17 (or P VIII) is an almost complete hominid cranium including facial bones. The calotte Sangiran 2 (or PII) corresponds in its morphology closely to the Trinil skullcap, the first hominid from Java found by Eugène Dubois in 1894. All hominid remains from Sangiran are presently attributed to a single species Homo erectus. This neglects the morphological differences between the groups of different age. However, the hominid bearing deposits in Sangiran cover a large sequence in time, approx. 1.5 million years. Morphological differences may be caused by isolated evolution on insular Java, which does not necessarily lead to speciation events and thus does not demand to attribute a different species name.


19

Sangiran syn.

Pb Sangiran 1, PIb right mandibular fragment with (I2-P3) P4-M3

PII Sangiran 2 cranial vault

PIII Sangiran 3 skull fragment including both parietalia and occipital fragments

PIV Sangiran

cranial vault including both parietals and occipital, skull base; fragmentary maxilla with left

(I1-2) C-M1 and right (I1-I2) C-M3

Sangiran 5 right mandibular fragment with (P3-4) M1-2

Ma Sangiran 6 right mandibular fragment with P3-M1; left gonial portion with M2-3

Sangiran 7 52 isolated teeth

Mb Sangiran 8 right mandibular fragment with C-M3 Pc Sangiran 9 right mandibular fragment with P3-4, M2-3

PVI Sangiran 10 fragmentary calotte, left zygomatic bone

Sangiran 11 isolated teeth

PVII Sangiran 12 cranial vault Sangiran 13b calotte fragments

Sangiran 14 fragments of crancial base

Pd Sangiran 15a left maxillary fragment with P3-4 Sangiran 15b left maxillary fragment with P3 (P4)

Sangiran 16 isolated teeth

PVIII Sangiran 17 cranium including maxilla with right C (P3-4) M1-3 and left P3 Sangiran 18 cranial vault fragments

Sangiran 19 fragmentary occipital

Sangiran 20 cranial vault fragments

Pe Sangiran 21 right mandibular ramus with M3 Pf Sangiran 22 fragmented maxilla; mandibular fragment with I2-P3, M3; isolated I, C, P, M2

Sangiran 27 cranium including facial skull

Sangiran 29 postcranial

Sangiran 30 postcranial

Sangiran 31 cranium

Sangiran 38 cranial vault with frontal, both parietals, occipital

Sb 7904a Sb 7904b

cranial vault fragments including left parietal, mastoid, occipital; right parietal, occipital

Bk 7905 right mandibular fragment with M1 (M2) Sb 8103 right mandibular fragment with P4-M3 Ng 8503 right mandibular fragment M1-2 Bk 8606 right mandibular fragment with (M1) M2-3 Bp 9408 frontal and nasal fragment Ng 9603 M sup. dext. Bu 9604 occipital fragment Bs 9706 I1 inf. sin.

P IX Sangiran IX cranium

Arjuna 9 right mandibular fragment with M2-3

Arjuna 13 fragmentary left and right parietals

Hanoman 1 cranial vault fragments

Hanoman 13 left mandibular fragment with M?

Kresna 11 left femoral diaphysis

NG91 G10-1 M2 sup. sin.

Tab. 3: Selected hominids from Sangiran (composed on the basis of Jacob 1971; Aziz 2001; Grimaud-Hervé & Widianto 2001); Sangiran 1-7 housed at Senckenberg, Frankfurt/Main, bold letters indicate specimens housed at GRDC, Bandung.


20

Trinil

Geology and Stratigraphy Close to the small village of Trinil the river Bengawan Solo runs in a large narrow meander (Fig. 8). Over a large distance the rvier follows here the slightly south dipping, E-W trending Kabuh formation. It is also causing outcrops in the Pucangan, Upper Kalibeng and Lower Kalibeng formations. At one site the bedding plane forming the limit between Pucangan and Kabuh formations is uncovered over some distance. Here it is composed of a thin bed of lapilli3 containing a lot of vertebrate remains. This is the so called Grenslaag or border layer. This bed is also called ‘Hauptknochenschicht’, i.e. main fossiliferous layer. It contains a middle Pleistocene vertebrate fauna including hominids. Today excellent outcrops of this bed are still recognizable downstream of Trinil. Towards the north the beds are no longer exposed along the banks of the river. Presumably they are still preserved in the river bed, because sometimes the gravel banks exposed at low water level provide numerous remains of vertebrate fossils, e.g. in the village Watualang. The main fossiliferous layer is covered by fine grained cross-bedded sandstone, sometimes containing plant remains. Vertebrate remains have not yet been found in this part of the Kabuh formation.

Fig. 8: Geological map of the Trinil area (from Watanabe & Kadar 1985, p. 50)

3 particular kind of volcanic products with grainsize in mm or cm range


21

Paleontology The fauna originating from the main fossiliferous layer at Trinil is quite well known due to the careful excavations by Eugène Dubois and the Selenka expedition. Numerous remains of artiodactyls, i.e. deer and feral cattle, contribute the larger part of the fossil assemblages. Due to finds of fossil antlers the deer are quite well known. Among them are Muntjak (very small antlers) and Axis lydekkeri, but also larger species, yet undescribed. The small antelope Duboisia santeng, the larger feral cattle Bos (Bibos) palaesondaicus and the water buffalo Bos (Bubalus) palaeokerabau represent the bovids. A single suid species, Sus brachygnathus, occurs in Trinil. Hippopotami have not been found in the main fossiliferous layer at Trinil, though there are few specimen described orginitating from a different layer. Since hippos regularly occur in Pleistocene fossil assemblages from Java, the lack of hippos at Trinil is interpreted in terms of ecology. In their riparian habitats, Hippos prefer those parts of a river course, where shallow sandy banks occur. They do not occur along canyons with steep banks and a high stream velocity. Among the proboscideans Stegodon trigonocephalus is present. Perissodactyls are represented by a single Rhinoceros species, Rhinoceros sondaicus, the Java rhino. The large Stegodon as well as the rhinos prefered open habitats and were markedly grazing mammals. The presence of those species indicates a generally open environment with extensive grassy plains. However, there were also two monkey species present, a langur, Semnopithecus auratus, and a macaque, Macaca fascicularis. Recent representatives of these groups occur in forested habitats, either mangrove forests or evergreen rainforest. Thus, forests can be expected to be part of the Pleistocene environment at Trinil. Trinil represents also one of the few sites in Java, where fossil micromammals have been found. The porcupine Hystrix brachyura and a rat species, Rattus trinilensis, have been described. The described carnivore fauna is actually quite diverse. A tiger species is known, Panthera tigris, characterized by a larger body size compared to recent tigers. Besides remains of a small leopard cat, Prionailurus bengalensis, and a dog species, Mececyon trinilensis, have been found.

Palaeoanthropology Trinil is the first hominid site having been described outside Europe. First hominid remains, a skull cap and a femur, have been found between 1891 and 1894 by Eugène Dubois. With reference to Ernst Haeckel, who postulated an ancestral human species between apes and humans, Eugène Dubois attributed skull cap and femur to the species Pithecanthropus erectus, literally translated the “upright walking ape-man”. Though the generic name has been changed lateron, Dubois’ descriptions are the reference of the name Homo erectus for Pleistocene hominids. Trinil

Trinil skull cap PI cranial vault including frontal, parietal and occipital

Trinil femur right femur

Tab. 4: Hominid specimens from Trinil Although Dubois’ interpretation of the fossils was under dispute, it was never questioned that they belong to a fossil kind of hominid with a markedly different morphology in comparison to modern humans. The skull cap is low, possesses a low forehead and a markedly protruding supraorbital ridge. In occipital view a pronounced occipital torus is present. In fact, a series of torus structures encircles the skull, separating the upper cranial vault from the basal part below. The Trinil femur is actually quite similar to modern human femora. Its morphology indicates a fully developed upright posture and body proportions comparable to those in


22

modern humans. The specimen shows a remarkable ossification of the iliofemoral ligament, i.e. a bony outgrow at the upper interior margin of the thigh bone.

Fig. 9: Trinil skullcap and femur (from Conroy 1997 after Dubois 1894) The hominids from Trinil are today housed in the Dubois Collectie at Naturalis, Leiden.


23

Ngandong: Upper Pleistocene Terrace of Solo

Geology and Stratigraphy In particular along the Solo River between Ngawi and Cepu river terraces consisting of gravel are disconformably overlying the folded limestone deposits of the Upper and Lower Kalibeng formation. These terraces are remnants of an old river course already existing prior to the uplift of the Kendeng Hills to their present altitude (antecedent river). The terrace deposits often contain vertebrate remains sometimes in large quantities. Especially near Ngandong extensive collections were made. Several mounted skeletons are on display at the Geological Museum in Bandung. The terraces are lying on different levels, between 5 and 30 meters above the present water level. Close to the village Padasmalang a terrace containing vertebrates is still visible. The terrace at Ngandong has almost entirely been removed during the excavations. Ngandong is located on the left side of the Solo river about 10 km NNW of Ngawi. Along the antecedent valley of the Solo River several terrace deposits can be recognized between Ngawi and Jipangulu. Sartono (1976) devided these deposits in six different terraces. In descending order, they are called Rambut and Jipangulu Terrace (both early Pleistocene), Getas Terrace (middle Pleistocene), Ngandong Terrace (late Pleistocene), Jipangulu Terrace (early Holocene) and Menden Terrace of sub recent age. The relative height of these terraces from the water level is 97 m, 82 m, 57 m, 20 m, 7 m and 2 m, resp. However, Rizal (1998) has only distinguished five terraces, the upper highest terrace (53.8 – 62.3 ka), lower highest terrace (43.9 ka), high terrace (19.5 – 28.1 ka), middle terrace and lower terrace (1.8 – 2.1 Ka). The relative heights of these terraces are 80-84 m, 75 – 78 m, 56 – 62 m, 50 – 54 m and 45 – 50 m above sea level. In the Ngandong area proper only the high, middle and lower terraces can be observed. The terrace deposits overlie unconformably a Miocene marl deposit. It is composed of muddy coarse grained sand with gravel in the lower part and coarse grained sand with pebbles in the upper part. The Ngandong terrace deposits are expected to be younger than the Notopuro Formation in the Sangiran area.

Paleontology The fauna from Ngandong is known only from the excavations carried out by the Geological Survey in the 1930ies. The Ngandong fauna contains large feral cattle and water buffalo, i.e. Bos (Bibos) palaesondaicus and Bos (Bubalus) palaeokerabau. The small antelope Duboisia is no longer present. Moreover, small species are also missing among deer. Larger deer species are yet to be described, but Axis lydekkeri is certainly among. Considered in terms of size, there is possibly more than one pig species present in the fossil assemblage, i.e. Sus macrognathus occurs as well as Sus brachygnathus. Hippos are frequent in the fossil assemblage. Besides the recent tapir, Tapirus indicus, is present. Stegodon trigonocephalus, the characteristic proboscidean of the Pleistocene in Java, occurs along with Elephas hysudrindicus, a fossil elephant species. Among the primates, Macaca fascicularis is present, apart from the hominids. There is also a carnivore species known from the Ngandong assemblage, the recent tiger, Panthera tigris. However, due to striking differences in preservation between the specimens, doubts have been raised whether the Ngandong fauna actually represents a uniform fossil community (Westaway 2002). The Bengawan Solo connects the Middle Pleistocene localities at Trinil and further upstream with the younger Pleistocene terraces at Ngandong. It cannot be excluded that at least part of the fossil assemblage has been redeposited in the Ngandong terrace. The fossil assemblage described would thus represent a mixture of specimens with


24

different age. An interpretation in terms of ecology may be misleading. Systematic descriptions still rely on early studies. Since the taxonomy of major groups has been revised, new studies are required.

Fig. 10: Index map of the Trinil/Madiun area (from Watanabe & Kadar 1985, p. 64)

Palaeoanthropology During the early 1930ies remains of eleven individuals have been found in the course of controlled excavations carried out by the Geological Survey at Ngandong. The Ngandong hominids comprise a quite impressive sample of Pleistocene Homo erectus, since it consists largely of more or less complete cranial vaults. A list of the complete sample is given in table 5. The sample allows for studying individual variation with reference to population-related parameters. The Ngandong hominids have thus been interpreted in terms of individual age. In their morphology the Ngandong sample does not fundamentally differ from the classical Homo erectus. The average cranial capacity is, however, slightly larger compared to the specimens from Trinil and Sangiran. From the moment of their discovery, there were speculations about the condition of the specimens with reference to taphonomy. Most of the skulls lack a skull base. It was thus believed that they fell victim to cannibalistic practices or another kind of ritual manipulation.


25

Ngandong

Ngd I cranial vault; skull base missing

Ngd II frontal

Ngd III cranial vault fragment including frontal, both parietals, anterior part of the

occipital, left temporal including mastoid process

Ngd IV cranial vault fragment including frontal and both parietals

Ngd V cranial vault, skull base missing

Ngd VI cranial vault including skull base

Ngd VII fragmentary right parietal

Ngd VIII left and right parietal

Ngd IX cranial vault, skull base missing

Ngd X cranial vault, skull base missing

Ngd XI cranial vault, skull base preserved

Ngd A Tibia shaft

Ngd B complete right tibia

Tab. 5: Hominid specimens from Ngandong; all specimens are kept in the collections under care of Teuku Jacob, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.


26

Kedung Brubus

Geology and Stratigraphy Kedungbrubus is located about 30 km ESE of Ngawi and about 30 km NE of Madiun at the southern margin of the Kendeng Hills (Fig.10). The Kendeng Hills in the Kedungbrubus area are covered by teak forests and rather scarcely populated. Prior to his discovery at Trinil Dubois found a fragmentary mandible near Kedungbrubus. The exact location of the site is unknown. According to von Koenigswald (1940) the deposists consist of a series of tuff and tuffaceous sandstone alternating with tuffaceous breccias. He reported two mammalian fossil bearing horizons from this area. The stratigraphically older horizon is located close to the peak of Mt. Butak (Fig. 11) and is interpreted as representing the lower part of the Pucangan formation. The younger vertebrate bearing horizon is located in the immediate vicinity of Kedungbrubus. According to von Koenigswald (1940), this horizon represents fluviatile deposits. Recent fieldwork demonstrated that is exposed at seven places around Kedungbrubus and mainly composed of medium- and fine grained sand and coarse grained sand and/or sandstone with pebbles (Watanabe & Kadar 1985). It also contains intercalations of clay, silt and tuff. Fragments of molluscs occur occasionally in the sand part. A pebble bearing calcareous sandstone layer closely resembling the boundary layer in the Sangiran area, exists in the upper part of the sequence. It contains fragments of mollusks but is void of mammalian fossils.

Paleontology No efforts were made in the meantime either to confirm or reject the existence of two vertebrate bearing horizons of different age. The fossil assemblage which is quite well documented from Dubois’ excavations is understood as representing a uniform fossil community. The Kedung Brubus fauna resembles quite closely the Trinil HK fauna with a few remarkable exceptions. While the artiodactyl community is generally similar to the one in Trinil, Hippos occur and there is at least a different suid species. The occurrence of hippopotami shows that the local environment, esp. stream velocity and quality of the river banks must have been different from Trinil. The occurrence of a different pig species, Sus macrognathus instead of Sus brachygnathus, has not yet been interpreted in terms of ecology, because the ecological potential of Southeast Asian suids is yet to be determined. Among the perissodactyls two different rhino species are present, i.e. the Javan and Indian rhino, alike. Moreover, the recent tapir, Tapirus indicus, appears for the first time. The presence of Indian rhino and recent tapir bear ample evidence of an imigration of large mammals from the Asian mainland, which has not yet occurred at the time section represented by the Trinil HK fauna. Besides, at least two different proboscidean species occur, Stegodon trigonocephalus as well as the fossil elephant Elephas hysudrindicus. Stegodon, elephants and rhinos are characteristically browsing species demanding an open habitat, whereas the recent Malayan tapir, despite of its size, prefers forested habitats. There are, however, no monkey species known from Kedungbrubus. Recent monkeys are restricted to forests in their habitat preferences and would thus indicate the occurrence of more extensive woodlands. A remarkably huge pangolin occurs, Manis palaeojavanica. The giant pangolin has a considerably larger body size than any recent species and occured endemic in Java. Recent pangolins feed exclusively on social insects, i.e. termites. This dietary specialisation restricts their present distribution much more than the degree of vegetation coverage.


27

Fig. 11: Geological map of the Kedung Brubus area (after Duyfjes 1936 in Koenigswald 1940, p. 45)


28

Among the carnivores the large Trinil tiger, Panthera tigris, has been found. Besides a hyaena, Hyaena brevirostris, as well as the only fossil otter known, Lutrogale palaeoleptonyx have occurred in the Kedungbrubus fauna. The joint appearance of a short-snouted hyaena and a particularly large tiger species may indicate a niche division. Recent African large cats and hyaenas are known to compete for prey against each other. Varying body size may thus result from a specialization on prey in different size categories.

Palaeoanthropology The Kedung Brubus mandible represents the anterior section of a lower jaw. There is only a single tooth partially preserved, the canine, of which the upper part of the tooth crown is broken. The mandible has a comparatively gracile appearance. It is generally attributed to the classical Homo erectus sample from Java. This is based, however, mainly on stratigraphic considerations. Its striking gracility demands explanation. One of the explanations offered is that the Kedung Brubus mandible belongs to a juvenile individual (Tobias 1966).

Fig. 12: Kedung Brubus mandible (after Dubois 1938) Kedung Brubus

Kedungbrubus 1 Pa right mandibular fragment with C

Kedungbrubus 2 postcranial material

Tab. 6: Hominid specimens from Kedung Brubus The hominid specimens from Kedung Brubus are kept in the Dubois Collection, Naturalis, Leiden.


29

Mojokerto (Perning) The name Mojokerto is quite well known among palaeoanthropologists, because it has been used as a specific name for an infant human fossil. The fossil vault was found by a collector named Handoyo in February 1936 in the hamlet of Sumbertengah, 3 km north of Perning village on the left side of a tributary of the Klagen river. In fact, Perning is the closest town, 14 km ENE of Mojokerto itself.

Geology and Stratigraphy Initially, the geology of the site was established by Duyfjes (1938). According to him the conglomeratic sandstone layer in which the fossil was discovered belongs to the lower Pleistocene Pucangan Formation with volcanic facies. Sartono et al. (1981) demonstrated that fluviatile facies changes downwards into tuffaceous layers of secondary origin. They concluded that the find horizon should be regarded as Kabuh Formation. This is in accordance with the opinion of Van Bemmelen (1949) (Tab. 7). Basically the Kabuh formation here has the typical fluviatile facies similar to that in Sangiran, but develops a marine and tuffaceous facies in its lower part.

Age Blow Zone Duyfjes 1938 van Bemmelen 1949 Brouwer 1957

Sartono et al. 1981

Holocene Alluvium Alluvium Alluvium Alluvium

Jombang Jombang Jombang Jombang Upper

Fluviatile

facies Middle

Kabuh Kabuh

Volc.

facies

Kabuh marine

facies

Kabuh

Turi

Ple

isto

cene

Lower

Puc

anga

n

marine

facies marine facies

Tambakromo

Pucangan

Lidah

Selorejo Upper Pliocene

N 21

Kalibeng Kalibeng Kawengan

Kalibeng

Tab. 7: Stratigraphic interpretations of Perning sections Liver-brown sediment containing surrounded boulders and concretions of calcareous and tuffaceous marls from underlying tuffaceous beds, disconformably overlies the Kabuh formation. The plane of disconformities suggests an erosional surface, while the nature of the sediment itself suggests transportation by water over short distances. This bed, which is regarded as comparable to the Upper Pleistocene Jombang Formation resembles closely the Notopuro formation of Sangiran. The Kabuh formation overlies dark claystones comparable to the claystones from the Pucangan formation. Overlying these beds is found a thick series of sediment with a mainly fluviatile facies consisting of cross bedded coarse sandstone and conglomeratic sandstones and gravels, alternating in several horizons with marly and clayey deposits. On the basis of faunal association of smaller planktonic foraminifera, the age of the clay facies of the Lidah formation is established as N 21 or upper Pliocene to early Pleistocene. Consequently, the Kabuh formation of this area should be younger than N 21. According to Sartono et al. (1981), the age of the Kabuh formation in this area is Middle Pleistocene. On the other hand the liver-brown sediment which is comparable to the Jombang formation is regarded as upper Pleistocene.


30

Fig. 13: Geological map of the Perning area (after Duyfjes 1936 from Koenigswald 1940, p. 49)


31

Geologically speaking the infant Mojokerto skull originated from the volcanic facies of the Pucangan formation, suggested by Duyfjes (1938), which is of lower Pleistocene age. To be exact, it was found in the coarse grained sandstone between the second and the third horizon of marine mollusks (von Koenigwald, 1940). The underlying claystone facies of the Pucangan formation is marine in origin and is comparable to the Lidah or Turi formation.

Fig. 14: Profile of the vertebrate bearing horizons (from Sartono 1959)


32

Paleontology The geological and stratigraphical interpretation of the Perning hominid site changed considerably in the meantime. This affected also the interpretation of the fossil assemblage. The descriptions by von Koenigswald are generally believed to contain a large number of invalid species. The fossil specimens themselves are only occasionally preserved. The complete fossil assemblage is thus not accesible for new studies and revision. According to Leinders et al. (1984) and de Vos et al. (1994) the fossil assemblage should be attributed to the Kedung Brubus fauna. This conclusion is mainly based on stratigraphic considerations, but corresponds to the reconsideration of the lithostratigraphy by Sartono et al. introduced above. The large pangolin which is characteristic for the fauna at Kedungbrubus has not been found at the Perning site proper. However, it does in general not occur in large numbers. There is just a single specimen known from the fossil assemblage at Kedungbrubus. In order to clarify the depositional context of the hominid fossil and to gain new insight into the accompanying fauna, new excavations have been carried out during the last years (Huffman & Zaim 2003). The discovered fauna consists mainly of artiodactyls, i.e. deer and cattle. Hippos are also present and even a mandibular fragment of a large tiger has been described.

Palaeoanthropology The Mojokerto infant skull represents by now the only clearly infant specimen in the Homo erectus sample. Beyond stratigraphic considerations it is not possible to attribute it with certainty to Homo erectus. It differs, however, remarkably from a modern human child. The cranial vault is low and it is very small. Its individual age has been estimated between 1 and 3 years (Anton 1997). Mojokerto

Perning 1 Mojokerto child cranial vault with frontal, parietals and occipital, left temporal

Tab. 8: Hominid specimen from the Perning area; the specimen is kept in the collections under care of Teuku Jacob at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.


33

Literatur Anton, S. (1997): Developmental Age and Taxonomic Affinity of the Mojokerto Child, Java, Indonesia, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 102: 497-514. Aziz, F. (2001): Hominid fossils housed at the Geological Research and Development Center, Bandung, Indonesia. In: Indriati, E. (ed.): A Scientific Life. Papers in honour of Prof. Dr. T. Jacob, 53-66. Van Bemmelen, R. W. (1949): General geology of Indonesia and adjacent archipelagos. Vol. IA: General geology. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, pp. 732. Van den Bergh, G. D., de Vos, J. & Sondaar, P.Y. (2001): The Late Quaternary Paleobiogeography of mammal evolution in the Indonesian Archipelago. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 171: 385-408. Conroy, C. (1997): Reconstructing Human Origins. Norton, New York. Dubois, E. (1894): Pithecanthropus erectus: eine menschenähnliche Übergangsform von Java, Landesdruckerei, Batavia. Dubois, E. (1938): The mandible recently described and attributed to the Pithecanthropus by G. H. R. von Koenigswald, compared with the mandible of Pithecanthroups erectus described in 1924 by Eug. DUBOIS. Proc. Kon. Akad. Wet. 41: 139-147. Duyfjes, J. (1936): Zur Geologie und Stratigraphie des Kendenggebietes zwischen Trinil und Soerabaja. De Ingenieur in Nederlandsch-Indië 8: 136-149. Duyfjes, J. (1938): Toelichting bij Blad 110 (Modjokerto). Geologische Kaart van Java. Schaal 1:100.000, Dienst van den Mijnbouw, Bandung, pp. 68. Grimaud-Hervé, D. & Widianto, H. (2001): Les fossiles humains découverts à Java depuis les années 1980. In : Sémah, F., Falguères, C., Grimaud-Hervé, D. & Sémah, A.-M. (eds.) : Origin des peuplements et chronologie des cultures paléolithiques dans le sud-est asiatique. Semenanjung, Paris, pp. 331-357. Huffman, O.F. & Zaim, Y. (2003) : Mojokerto Delta, East Jawa: Paleoenvironment of Homo modjokertensis - First results. Journal of Mineral Technology 10 (2): 53-82. Jacob, T. (1971): Indonesia. in: Oakley, K.P., Campbell, B.G. & Molleson, T.I. (eds.): Catalogue of fossil hominids. British Museum, London, pp. xx-yy. Von Koenigswald, G.H.R. (1934): Zur Stratigraphie des javanische Pleistocän. De Ingenieur in Nederlandsch-Indië 11: 1985-201. Von Koenigswald, G.H.R. (1935): Die fossilen Säugetier-Faunen Javas. Proceedings of the Koninkelijke Akademie van Wetenschappen 35(2): 188-198. Von Koenigswald, G.H.R. (1940): Neue Pithecanthropus-Funde 1936-1938. Wetenschapelijke Mededeelingen van den Dienst van den Mijnbouw 28: 1-232.


34

Von Koenigswald, G.H.R. (1950): Fossil hominids from the Lower Pleistocene of Java. Proceedings of the International Geological Congress, Great Britain 1948, part 9, section H: 59-61. Leinders, J. J., Aziz, F., Sondaar, P. Y & de Vos, J. (1985): The age of the hominid bearing deposits of Java: state of the art. Geologie en Mijnbouw 64: 167-173. Van der Maarel, F. H. (1932): Contributions to the knowledge of the fossil mammalian fauna of Java. Wetenschappelijke Mededeelingen van den Dienst van den Mijnbouw 15: 1-208. Rizal, Y. (1998): Die Terrassen entlang des Solo-Flusses in Mittel- und Ost-Java. Dissertation, Universität Köln, unpubl. Sartono, S. (1959): Darmawisata Geologi ke Jawa Tengah. Institut Teknologi Bandung, unpublished. Sartono, S. (1976): Genesis of the Solo terraces. Modern Quaternary Research in Southeast Asia 2: 1-21. Sartono, S., Semah, F., Astadiredja, K.A.S., Djubiantono, T. (1981): The age of Homo modjokertensis. Modern Quaternary Research in Southeast Asia 6: 91-??. Storm, P. (2001): Life and death of Homo erectus in Australasia: en nvironmental approach to the fate of a paleospecies. In: Sémah, F., Falguères, C., Grimaud-Hervé, D. & Sémah, A.-M. (eds.) : Origin des peuplements et chronologie des cultures paléolithiques dans le sud-est asiatique. Semenanjung, Paris, pp. 279-298. Tobias, P.V. (1966): A re-examination of the Kdung Brubus mandible. Zoologische Mededeelingen 41 (22): 307-320. De Vos, J., Sondaar, P.Y., van den Bergh, G.T. & Aziz, F. (1994): The Homo bearing deposits of Java and Its Ecological Context. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 171: 129-140. De Vos, J. (1997): Chap. 5. Fauna. In: Whitten, T., Soeriaatmadja, R. E. & Affif, S. A. (1997): The Ecology of Java and Bali. The Ecology of Indonesia Series, Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. De Vos, J. & Vu The Long (2001): First settlements: Relations between Continental and Insular Southeast Asia. In: Sémah, F., Falguères, C., Grimaud-Hervé, D. & Sémah, A.-M. (eds) : Origine des Peuplements et Chronologie des Cultures Paléolithiques dans le Sud-Est Asiatique, Semenanjung, Paris, pp. 225-249. Watanabe, N. & Kadar, D. (eds.) (1985): Quaternary Geology of the Hominid Fossil Bearing Formations in Java. Special Publication of the Geological Research and Development Centre, Bandung, 4: 1-378. Weidenreich, F. (1945): Giant early man from Java and South China. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 40: 1-134.


35

Westaway, M.C. (2002): Preliminary Observations on the Taphonomic Processes at Ngandong and Some Implications for a Late Homo erectus Survivor Model, Tempus 7: 189-193. Wolpoff, M. H. (1989) Multiregional evolution: The fossil alternative to Eden. In: Mellars, P.; Stringer, C. (eds): The Human Revolution. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press, pp. 62-108

excursion guide to the pleistocene hominid sites

Documents