Jack N. Fenner

Sembiran and Pacung on the north coast of Bali: a strategic crossroads for early trans-Asiatic exchange

Abstract Studies of trade routes across Southeast Asia in prehistory have hitherto focused largely on archaeological evidence from Mainland Southeast Asia, particularly the Thai Peninsula and Vietnam. The role of Indonesia and Island Southeast Asia in these networks has been poorly understood, owing to the paucity of evidence from this region. Recent research has begun to fill this void. New excavations at Sembiran and Pacung on the northern coast of Bali have produced new, direct AMS dates from burials, and analytical data from cultural materials including pottery, glass, bronze, gold andsemi-precious stone, as well as evidence of local bronze-casting. This suggests strong links with the Indian subcontinent and Mainland Southeast Asia from the late first millennium BC, some 200 years earlier than previously thought.

Humification in northeast Australia: Dating millennial and centennial scale climate variability in the late Holocene

The identification of wetter and drier phases from the last deglaciation to the Late Holocene has been a valuable outcome of palaeoenvironmental (chiefly palynological) studies of northeastern Australia conducted over the past 40 years. Few studies have, however, focussed on the identification of wetter and drier phases in the wet tropics, and none have set their focus on the last 4000 years, a period when northeastern Australia is generally accepted to have experienced increased El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity. The present study provides this palaeoclimatic information using the degree of peat humification as the main palaeoclimatic proxy. To identify regional climatic signals in the peat record and differentiate these from local signals induced by particular basin hydrology or ecology, sedimentary sequences from two geographically separated swamps on the Atherton Tableland in north Queensland are examined. Wet and dry shifts are detected in the humification records for Bromfield Swamp (core BSAT03) and Mount Quincan crater swamp (Q2). Seventeen wet shifts are detected in both records with 12 shifts showing good cross-correlation at the following dates (with 2σ range): 3990/3960 (4090–3850), 3480/3550 (3640–3420), 2950/2990 (3080–2790), 2860/2880 (2980–2700), 2560/2610 (2730–2450), 1880/1820 (2100–1740), 1430/1410 (1660–1320), 1170/1080 (1390–1020), 990/1010 (1100–790), 610/640 (710–490), 290/300 (330–180) and 120/150 (190–40) cal. yr BP. A particular dry phase, initiated by dry shifts at 4090 cal. yr BP (Bromfield Swamp) and 4330 cal. yr BP (Mount Quincan), reaches its greatest strength at 4050 cal. yr BP.

Occasional Hunts or Mass Kills? Investigating the Origins of Archaeological Pronghorn Bonebeds in Southwest Wyoming

It is often unclear whether an archaeological animal bonebed was formed by a mass kill of individuals from a single prey population or through the accumulation of a number of separate kills which occurred over a long time period or at multiple locations. The isotope ratio variation within animals from an archaeological bonebed can be used to investigate this question by comparing the isotope ratio variation within an archaeological assemblage to the variation within modern populations. If the archaeological variation exceeds that expected within a single population, then an accumulation is indicated. Otherwise, a single mass kill or a series of kills from a single population over a fairly short time period is more likely. This technique is demonstrated using carbon, oxygen, and strontium isotope ratios to characterize the amount of variation within pronghorn tooth enamel from six archaeological sites in southwestern Wyoming. The results indicate that the Austin Wash and Trappers Point sites are the result of an accumulation of pronghorn from multiple populations, while the Firehole Basin, Gailiun, and Boars Tusk sites do not show evidence of accumulation and therefore may be the result of mass kills. The Eden-Farson site formation characteristics are currently indeterminate.

Examining the Origin of Fortifications in East Timor: Social and Environmental Factors

ABSTRACT The remains of fortified archaeological sites abound in hilltop locations on the island of East Timor (Timor-Leste). Archaeologists have linked the emergence of these fortified settlements with environmental change. Some point to a period of reduced rainfall and increased environmental fluctuations beginning about AD 1000, while others cite relatively large-scale climate change during the post-AD 1300 transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age. Both groups link environmental change to resource unpredictability which in turn leads to inter-group conflict. Of course environmental change is not the only possible trigger for conflict; a variety of social or economic factors could also be responsible. Here we present data on three fortified sites in East Timor, two of which have been dated, and combine these new data with previous work to develop a new chronology for fortifications in eastern East Timor. We then evaluate potential environmental and social factors against this chronology and other archaeological, historical, and ethnohistoric evidence. This assessment indicates that social factors, particularly the impact of increased sandalwood trade, were likely more important drivers of fortification and conflict in East Timor than environmental change.

Early Goats in Bali, Indonesia: Stable Isotope Analyses of Diet and Movement

ABSTRACT Two thousand years ago, maritime trade flourished in Southeast Asia and archaeological excavations have revealed that Island Southeast Asia played an important role within developing trading networks. The sites of Sembiran and Pacung on the north coast of Bali, Indonesia, have produced a wide range of artifacts that demonstrate links to mainland and island Asia. Here, we examine faunal remains from these sites to assess the role that livestock played in north Bali diet and trade at that time. In addition to abundant pig (Sus cf. scrofa) remains, the sites yielded the earliest securely dated goat (Capra hircus) remains known from Southeast Asia. Moreover carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium stable isotope analyses of bone collagen and tooth apatite indicate that some of these goats were from a markedly different environment than the pig, human, and dog remains from the sites. It is likely that these goats were imported from a different region—possibly South Asia—where they fed on C4 plants such as millet. This provides evidence that livestock were included in regional exchange networks, and prompts the question as to why goat remains are absent from Mainland Southeast Asia archaeological sites despite their presence in South Asia, East Asia, and Island Southeast Asia.

Mortuary Caves and the Dammar Trade in the Towuti–Routa Region, Sulawesi, in an Island Southeast Asian Context

Archaeological evidence from survey and cave excavation in the Towuti–Routa region of Sulawesi suggests the following sequence of late Holocene cultural change. Settled communities whose subsistence included an agricultural component had established themselves by the early centuries a.d. and began the use of caves for mortuary purposes. Extended inhumations are the oldest attested mortuary practice, overlapping in time with secondary burials in large earthenware jars dated to around a.d. 1000. The third, ethnohistorically described practice involved the surface disposal of the deceased, including the use of imported martavans for the elite, between approximately a.d. 1500 and 1900. This sequence of mortuary practices has not been documented elsewhere in Island Southeast Asia, although each practice has multiple parallels. The Towuti–Routa dammar trade, which was at its peak at the time of European contact, can perhaps account for the quantity of exotic items imported to the region but not the specifics of the mortuary practices.

Earthenware of Malara, Anuru Bay:A reassessment of potsherds from a Macassan trepang processing site, Arnhem Land, Australia, and implications for Macassan trade and the trepang industry

Abstract Previous excavations at Malara (Anuru Bay A), a Macassan trepang processing site in Arnhem Land, produced a substantial quantity of earthenware pottery (Macknight 1969). Earthenware pottery has also been reported and collected from Macassan sites elsewhere along the Northern Territory and Kimberley coastlines. Although several studies have been undertaken on earthenwares from Macassan sites in Australia, it was uncertain whether any included sherds from the significant Anuru Bay site. This paper details the results of the analysis of earthenware sherds recovered during a recent programme of excavation and surface collection at Anuru Bay. The earthenware was analysed in order to investigate its source and to determine whether one or more regions of manufacture were evident. Our results indicate that the sole source for all of the analysed pottery was likely south Sulawesi. It would appear that the trepang fishing fleets who camped at Malara provisioned non-perishables, such as local earthenware, at the port of Makassar prior to beginning their voyage to Marege. This strengthens claims for Makassar as the major operating port for the fleets operating in the Anuru Bay area.

Two Clocks: A Comparison of Ceramic and Radiocarbon Dates at Macapainara, East Timor

Radiocarbon analysis and ceramic typology assessment are commonly used to date late Holocene archaeological sites in Island Southeast Asia. We apply both methods to date the site of Macapainara in East Timor, and they produce substantially different age ranges for this site. The radiocarbon dates are consistently later in time than ceramic typology dates from the same or adjacent stratigraphic levels. We assess the various sources of error for the two dating techniques that could produce this discrepancy, and conclude that the ceramic typology age ranges are misleadingly old due to concerted curation of fine ceramics by the site occupants. We discuss the implications of this for dating sites in East Timor and elsewhere within Island Southeast Asia.