Hominin adaptations in the Lesser Sunda Islands: exploring the vertebrate record to investigate fauna diversity before, during and after the Last Glacial Maximum

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the available vertebrate record from the Lesser Sunda Islands to explore the effect the Last Glacial Maximum had on human subsistence strategies. By focusing on vertebrate assemblages from Laili and Matja Kuru 2 in Timor Leste, Tron Bon Lei in Alor Island, and Here Sorot Entapa in Kisar, this paper investigates biodiversity and resource availability in these nearby islands through the application of standardising indices and statistical testing. Results indicate that vertebrate biodiversity remained fairly stable through and after the Last Glacial Maximum, suggesting that in terms of available mammals, birds and reptiles, this period did not led to severe resource depletion. Hence, potential variations in human subsistence practices or occupation dynamics might not be due to changes in vertebrate diversity. As such, this analysis contributes to investigating anatomically modern humans’ subsistence adaptation in the Lesser Sunda Islands pre- and post-Last Glacial Maximum.

KEYWORDS:

• Lesser Sunda Islands
• Last Glacial Maximum
• zooarchaeology
• anatomically modern humans
• subsistence
• biodiversity

Acknowledgments

Fieldwork and analysis in Laili, Matja Kuru 2, Tron Bon Lei and Here Sorot Entapa was funded by an ARC Discovery Grant (DP0878543), an ARC Laureate Fellowship awarded to Prof. Sue O’Connor (FL120100156), and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CE170100015). Fieldwork in Timor-Leste was undertaken with the assistance of Cecilia Assis and the Ministério do Turismo, Artes e Cultura from Timor-Leste. We thank the representative of the Department of Culture (Mr. Gil), the Department of Forestry (Mr. Marvaos), the Chef de Suco of Mehara (Mr. Antonio) and the Ratu Heads from Poros and Mkury villages and the local villagers for their assistance during fieldwork in Matja Kuru 2. Fieldwork in Indonesia was conducted with the assistance of Dr. Mahirta and staff and students from Universitas Gadja Mada and the Balai Arkeologi Organisation. Fieldwork in Tron Bon Lei was carried out on a FRP visa granted by RISTEK (O’Connor 1304/FRP/SM/V/2014). Fieldwork in Here Sorot Entapa was carried out on a FRP visa granted by RISTEK (O’Connor 1456/FRP/SM/VII/2015).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [CE170100015, DP0878543, FL120100156].

Notes on contributors

Sofia C. Samper Carro

Sofia C. Samper Carro is currently a Research Fellow at the School of Culture, History and Language (CHL) at the Australian National University and a Legacy project manager at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH). Dr. Samper Carro a is zooarchaeologist and taphonomist with a background on Pleistocene and Holocene faunal assemblages. She has a wide experience researching Neanderthal and AMH subsistence strategies, completing taphonomical analysis of human and non-human accumulations, studying human occupation dynamics through density analysis, geometric morphometrics and photogrammetry and 3D modelling. She has also experience on bioanthropological and archaeothanatological analyses of human remains from Island Southeast Asia. Her current projects aim at investigating the possibilities of palaeoproteomic studies to improve our knowledge about Neanderthal and AMH diet and behaviour.