Faces in the Stone: Further Finds of Anthropomorphic Engravings Suggest a Discrete Artistic Tradition Flourished in Timor-Leste in the Terminal Pleistocene

O’Connor, Sue; Oliveira, Nuno Vasco; Standish, Christopher D.; García-Diez, Marcos; Kealy, Shimona; Shipton, Ceri

doi:10.1017/s0959774320000323

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…In linguistics, Blench (2016) emphasises that some words (e.g., the Austronesian word for pangolin) also bypassed the Philippines. However, it should be noted that the Timor‐Leste engravings do not conform to AES either (O'Connor et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of Philippine rock art and its regional context

Jalandoni

2021

Archaeology in Oceania

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This paper provides a complete overview of all the known rock art sites to demonstrate the variation in motifs and techniques used in the Philippines, outline the indigenous associations, and highlight issues for conservation. In addition, new findings are introduced that include a second rock art site in Alab and previously unnoticed styles of rock art in Peñablanca. In recent years, the study of Philippine rock art has also yielded valuable contributions for archaeology both in methods and theory. Recording the rock art in challenging contexts necessitated the development of several pioneering digital methods, some low‐cost, to see obfuscated rock art and expedite inventories that can be used worldwide. After reviewing the rock art in the Philippines, it is clear that the much‐debated Austronesian rock art theories do not apply to these sites. A comparison of similar motifs and their contexts found in Southeast Asia and Micronesia is a starting point for developing new rock art theories in the region.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of Philippine rock art and its regional context

Jalandoni

2021

Archaeology in Oceania

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“…Many of the facial features incorporate cupules. Other examples of carved anthropomorphic forms and faces carved into speleothems have been found in Pati Patinu and Kiiru 4 also at the eastern end of Timor-Leste [118]. While they are undated, it is likely that they were created at about the same time as the carved faces in Lene Hara.…”

Section: A New Type Of Rock Artmentioning

confidence: 95%

The Southern Route to Sahul: Modern Human Dispersal and Adaptation in the Pleistocene

O’Connor,

Shipton,

Kealy

2024

The Prehistory of Human Migration - Human Expansion, Resource Use, and Mortuary Practice in Maritime Asia

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In this chapter we examine the evidence for modern human dispersal, early settlement and later adaptations to the southern islands of the Wallacean Archipelago. We discuss the features that distinguish modern human occupation in southern Wallacea during the Pleistocene from those in the northern islands. In this context we examine the location of sites in the landscape, as well as technology and subsistence across this maritime realm between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. We then look at the changes that occurred in the terminal Pleistocene after ~20,000 years ago. Such changes include an increase in marine resource use and occupation intensity more generally, as well as initial occupation of inland regions and very small islands. Accompanying these changes is the appearance of new maritime technology in the form of shell fishhooks and adzes. Perhaps most remarkable, is the onset of an obsidian exchange network connecting at least three of the southern islands from ~17,000 years ago. These changes coincide with new forms of artistic expression, in both personal ornamentation and rock art. Greater social connectivity during the terminal Pleistocene in the southern islands seems to have ushered in new symbolic concerns.

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“…Recent archeological findings report two new engraving sites from the Tutuala region of Timor-Leste comprising mostly humanoid forms carved into speleothem columns in rock-shelters, considered dating from the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene in southeastern Wallacea (O'Connor et al, 2021), while in another text is mentioned the discovery of at least 16 hand stencil motifs in Lene Hara Cave, where evidence of human occupation is estimated dating from ~43,000 cal BP, considered consistent with the pattern found in neighboring regions of Island Southeast Asia and Australia, and recognized as part of Pleistocene painting traditions (Standish et al, 2020).…”

Section: Some Historic and Cultural Notes Concerning Timor-lestementioning

confidence: 99%

Tara bandu: On the hybridization of a sign

Casquilho

Martins

2022

Diálogos (FFCH - UNTL)

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Tara bandu is a traditional ceremony in Timor-Leste that enshrines a customary law with official recognition since independence, which generally applies to the spatial scale of the smallest administrative division of the territory (suco) and several years of timespan, rooting in tradition (lisan), concerning natural resources management and also relations among people. There is evidence related to the concepts of adat (tradition in Indonesia) and pemali (taboo) in Southeast Asia and Austranesia, suggesting that precursors of tara bandu should exist before the Portuguese arrival in the early XVI century. Yet, there was a subsequent diachronic process of hybridization of static iconic devices and other traditional Timorese practices with the vocalized Portuguese colonial bandos, evolving to a choreographic complex ritual with several semiotic dimensions: the sacrificial animist performance addressed to the ancestor’s spirits and a supernatural environment (lulik), dances and others including Catholic rites, then focusing on written documents endorsing commitments. Contemporaneously, tara bandu is a salient event anchoring communities in defining participatory land use plans including agreements on property boundaries, rules of engagement and also interdictions and sanctions. Tara bandu is mentioned nowadays as an example and case-study of bottom-up strategies for environmental peacebuilding processes.

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Faces in the Stone: Further Finds of Anthropomorphic Engravings Suggest a Discrete Artistic Tradition Flourished in Timor-Leste in the Terminal Pleistocene

Cited by 6 publications

References 42 publications

A review of Philippine rock art and its regional context

A review of Philippine rock art and its regional context

The Southern Route to Sahul: Modern Human Dispersal and Adaptation in the Pleistocene

Tara bandu: On the hybridization of a sign

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