Sulawesi is the largest and oldest island within Wallacea, a vast zone of oceanic islands separating continental Asia from the Pleistocene landmass of Australia and Papua (Sahul). By one million years ago an unknown hominin lineage had colonized Flores immediately to the south, and by about 50 thousand years ago, modern humans (Homo sapiens) had crossed to Sahul. On the basis of position, oceanic currents and biogeographical context, Sulawesi probably played a pivotal part in these dispersals. Uranium-series dating of speleothem deposits associated with rock art in the limestone karst region of Maros in southwest Sulawesi has revealed that humans were living on the island at least 40 thousand years ago. Here we report new excavations at Talepu in the Walanae Basin northeast of Maros, where in situ stone artefacts associated with fossil remains of megafauna (Bubalus sp., Stegodon and Celebochoerus) have been recovered from stratified deposits that accumulated from before 200 thousand years ago until about 100 thousand years ago. Our findings suggest that Sulawesi, like Flores, was host to a long-established population of archaic hominins, the ancestral origins and taxonomic status of which remain elusive.
This is an awesome discovery, and the dates largely rule out modern humans as the tools' creators. Therefore we are probably looking to Homo erectus as the most likely candidate or perhaps Homo floresiensis as the toolmaker.
Another point to note is that at the time the tools were made Sulawesi was still an island, as it is today. Therefore whoever made the tools must have arrived by boat. If the tools are 200000 years old this would be one of the earliest use of boats.
Mind you the lead author, van den Bergh had a weird take on the arrival of humans on the island, as he told Science News (2):
“Personally, I think Homo erectus is the most likely candidate. Ancient H. erectus colonizers probably didn’t navigate the ocean in canoes or other vessels, instead, occasional tsunamis could have washed small numbers of H. erectus into the sea from Southeast Asia’s coast. Southerly currents would have pushed castaways floating on vegetation or debris to Sulawesi. Accidental journeys of that kind probably explain how extinct elephants and other animals, known from fossil remains discovered in the new excavations and on my previous expeditions, ended up on Sulawesi more than 200,000 years ago".
Oh COME on! The makers of the tools he found were capable of the skilful execution of complex manual tasks that required planning and intent. They came form a population that (presumably) lived by and off the ocean for many millennia. Therefore the development and use of boat technology makes logical sense for these humans (of whatever species they were).
Therefore, to hear scientists who have completed work like this, to such an extremely high standard, play down the achievements of equally intelligent, if ancient humans makes me extremely irritated.
Lastly humans using boats at this extremely early date, have profound implications for the peopling of not only Sahul but of the Americas.
References
1. Gerrit D. van den Bergh et. al. 2016. Earliest hominin occupation of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Nature 529, 208–211 (14 January 2016) doi:10.1038/nature16448
Abstract retrieved from: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v529/n7585/full/nature16448.html#extended-data
2. Article retrieved from:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-stone-tools-raise-tantalizing-questions-over-who-colonized-Sulawesi
Additional reading
Some interesting comments on migration issues by Austin Whittall here.
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