Late Pleistocene-Holocene Lithic Industries from Mangkalihat karstic area, East Kalimantan (Eastern Borneo, Indonesia)
Grenet Michel (1), Fauzi Ruly (2,3), Sarel Josette (4), Oktaviana Adhi Agus (2), Ricaut François-X (5)
- CNRS, UMR5608 Laboratoire TRACES, France
- National Research Center for Archaeology, Jakarta, Indonesia;
- Center for Prehistory and Austronesian Studies, Indonesia;
- CNRS, UMR 7041, ArScAn, Université de Paris X, France, INRAP
- CNRS UMR 5288, Laboratoire AMIS, Université de Toulouse, France
Lack of data and studies on lithic remains from Kalimantan (Borneo) result in a limited understanding of human prehistory in this region. Current collaborative research by a French-Indonesian team is trying to reduce this lack of data by conducting field research and a multidisciplinary scientific project in the karstic region of Mangkalihat (East Kalimantan, Indonesia). A series of analyses related to typo-technological studies on the lithic materials from this project have brought new data and consecutive developments for a better understanding of the prehistory of Kalimantan in the regional context.
This paper will present and discuss some data from Liang Jon (2007-2008); Liang Abu (2009-2012); and Liang Pemalawan (2013). Our observations on the type of raw materials and knapping technics used, show some distinctive characteristics among these sites. However, homogeneityfrom a typo-technological point of view tend to appear in long chronological periods within this region. Hence, the lithic industry in Kalimantan seems to have some similar features (ie. homogeneity in long chronology) with several Indonesian prehistoric sites from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene periods.