Sulawesi hominin

Tools recovered from Sulawesi.

The Sulawesi hominin is a possibly unnamed species of hominin that lived in Sulawesi during the Late Pleistocene.

## History

—Dr. Gerrit van den Bergh
The presence of this hominin was first identified through stone tools found at the Leang Burung 2 rock shelter and the Talepu open-air site in Sulawesi, dating to around 50,000 years for the former and over 200,000 years for the latter. Being older than *Homo sapiens* presence on the island (~60-70 kya), they belong to an unrecognized population of Late Pleistocene *Homo*. Originally, these hominins were speculated to have been a member of *Homo daliensis*, *Homo erectus*, *Homo floresiensis*, a new species or an undocumented early migration of *Homo sapiens*. Older genomic work on 83 Australian Aborigines of the Pama-Nyungan language group, which covers ~90% of Australia, finds that their ancestors interbred with unknown hominins during the migrations from mainland Asia, along with Neanderthals and Denisovans. Their hypothesis remains the most popular, and the tools are believed to be connected to the unknown species found in genetics.

Leang Burung 2 was initially excavated by Ian Glover in 1975, digging 3.5 meters and finding numerous Late Pleistocene fauna dating to modern human occupation. However, below laid a layer of yellow clay containing simpler tools and megafauna not seen in later sediment. This excavation was shut down before further advances, since large rocks prevented continuation. Mike Morwood revisited the site and dug another meter in 2007; from 2011-2013, they continued to 6.2 meters, and finished when groundwater began seeping into the quarry and making further digging impossible. Below was evidence for another culture in brown clay. These tools are around 50,000 years old and may be a relict of older inhabitants, suggesting that they survived up until modern migrations. The discovery at Talepu was made in 2007 by Dr. Gerrit van den Bergh during a survey with Anwar Akib, of the Cultural Heritage Department. From 2009-2012, van den Bergh recovered over 200 tools from two trenches, whose maximum depth is 10 meters. Luminescence dating was done by Dr. Bo Li, with a minimum age of 200 kya found. However, it is likely that the tools are much older.

## Paleoecology

The team who worked on the initial discovery theorized that lowered sea levels allowed northern *Homo floresiensis* to cross down into Sulawesi. They also leave open the idea that they are an isolated group of *Homo erectus*. This species is identified by a simpler culture, which is seen from 50,000 years and upwards and are replaced by *Homo sapiens* in recent ice age sediment. These people may have reached Sulawesi through the lowering of sea levels from northern islands such as Flores. Sulawesi was likely a passage from Indonesia to Australia, and the migration of Aboriginal Australians into mainland Australia through this route is reflected in their genome, suggesting that interbreeding took place.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://theconversation.com/ancient-stone-tools-found-on-sulawesi-but-who-made-them-remains-a-mystery-92277
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-01-14/stone-tools-date-earliest-occupations-of-humans-on-sulawesi/7086308
3. ↑ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0257273
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-26/dna-of-extinct-human-species-pacific-islanders-analysis-suggests/7968950