Talking Dead. New burials from Tron Bon Lei (Alor Island, Indonesia) inform on the evolution of mortuary practices from the terminal Pleistocene to the Holocene in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Burial elaborations are a human behaviour that, in recent contexts can inform on social diversification, belief systems, and the introduction of new practices resulting from migration or cultural transmission. The study of mortuary practices in Mainland and Island Southeast Asia has revealed complex and diverse treatments of the deceased. This paper contributes to this topic with the description of three new burials excavated in Tron Bon Lei (Alor Island, Indonesia) dated to 7.5, 10, and 12 kya cal BP. In addition to the bioskeletal profiles and palaeohealth observations, we propose the adoption of archaeothanatological methods to characterise burial types in the region. Through the analysis of skeletal element representation, body position, articulation, and grave associations, we provide an example of a holistic approach to mortuary treatments in the Lesser Sunda Islands. Our results provide significant new data for understanding the evolution and diversification of burial practices in Southeast Asia, contributing to a growing body of literature describing prehistoric socio-cultural behaviour in this region.

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

“…The original B pit was extended to the southeast (Squares D & E). The recovery of the remainder of the skeleton in 2018 confirmed the burial as female and an additional fishhook was found with the post cranial remains [99].…”

Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum

“…BP at the Pamwak site on Manus in the Bismarck Archipelago 60 . Burials closest in age to those at RM2 in Wallacea were found on Alor from Tron Bon Lei in Square B (TBL-1) dated to 11.7–11.3 ka 61 – 63 , and the Tron Bon Lei Square C burial dated to 17–7 ka 62 . Unfortunately, direct dating of the RM2 human petrous bones failed, and thus the burials had to be dated using shell samples adjacent to Burial 2.…”

“…On Java, Gua Braholo 6, contemporaneous with RM2, was also flexed and interred on the right side on an east–west axis 57 . Of note is the fact that the Tron Bon Lei individual TLB-1 from nearby Alor Island, dating to 12 ka, was also interred in a primary flexed position, but lying on its left side 61 , 63 . Large limestone rocks were placed near the head of each RM2 individual (Fig.…”

“…Large limestone rocks were placed near the head of each RM2 individual (Fig. 7 ), in similar fashion to the Liang Tebo cave burial on Borneo 53 and the TLB-1 Tron Bon Lei burial on Alor 63 .…”

Gaiso-Bo and Fuso Mortuary Practices and Human Migration in the Late Pleistocene in the Ryukyu Islands

“…The number of such archeological evidence is much limited in the Pleistocene maritime Asia. In Wallacea, currently the oldest modern human remains are from the Tron Bon Lei rock-shelter in Alor Island which could be dated between 17 and 12 ka [42][43][44], see also the chapter by Sofia Samper Carro). Among the three human remains, a female skeleton associated with some shell-made fishhooks in Alor Island dated to around 12 ka by C14 dating [45].…”