The Quaternary in the tropics: an introduction

Flenley, J. R.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1417(199709/10)12:5<345::aid-jqs318>3.0.co;2-8

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…On this evidence, prehistoric foragers may have been developing stratagems for coping with tropical environments not unlike those of present-day rainforest foragers more or less from the time that modern humans first colonised the region. Yet, though the palaeoclimatic and palaeoecological records for the present-day tropics are rather poorly understood, there are indications that tropical rainforests were far less extensive in the late Pleistocene than they are today, and that tropical environments then were mosaic landscapes of more and less vegetated terrain (Flenley 1997;Hope & Golson 1995;Hope & Tulip 1994;Maloney 1999). So were modern humans able to colonise tropical south-east Asia and Sundaland so successfully because they developed 'proactive' foraging strategies akin to those of modern rainforest foragers?…”

Section: The Research Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric Foragers and Farmers in South-east Asia: Renewed Investigations at Niah Cave, Sarawak

Barker

Barton²,

Beavitt³

et al. 2002

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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The paper describes the initial results from renewed investigations at Niah Cave in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, famous for the discovery in 1958 of the c. 40,000-year old 'Deep Skull'. The archaeological sequences from the West Mouth and the other entrances of the cave complex investigated by Tom and Barbara Harrisson and other researchers have potential implications for three major debates regarding the prehistory of south-east Asia: the timing of initial settlement by anatomically modern humans; the means by which they subsisted in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene; and the timing, nature, and causation of the transition from foraging to farming. The new project is informing on all three debates. The critical importance of the Niah stratigraphies was commonly identified -including by Tom Harrisson himself -as because the site provided a continuous sequence of occupation over the past 40,000 years. The present project indicates that Niah was first used at least 45,000 years ago, and probably earlier; that the subsequent Pleistocene and Holocene occupations were highly variable in intensity and character; and that in some periods, perhaps of significant duration, the caves may have been more or less abandoned. The cultural sequence that is emerging from the new investigations may be more typical of cave use in tropical rainforests in south-east Asia than the Harrisson model.

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Section: The Research Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric Foragers and Farmers in South-east Asia: Renewed Investigations at Niah Cave, Sarawak

Barker

Barton²,

Beavitt³

et al. 2002

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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“…However, relatively little is known about the palaeo‐landscapes of Asia and the environmental factors that aided or impeded dispersal or occupation (Dennell, 2004). In addition, essential Quaternary research in this region has been limited (Flenley, 1997; Dam et al , 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing rates of karst landscape evolution in the Tropics: a context for the formation of archaeological sites in western Flores, Indonesia

Westaway

Sutikna²,

Morwood

et al. 2010

J Quaternary Science

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Tropical landscapes evolve at a rapid rate, creating stepped alluvial terraces, dense basin and cone topographies and multilevel cave systems. An understanding of the rate of landscape evolution is crucial for understanding how landscapes respond to tectonic instability and for reconstructing landscapes that have changed over archaeological timescales. The rate of landscape incision as a proxy for karst landscape evolution in Indonesia, a key region in the path of human dispersal, has been established using the rate of karstification -by estimating a chronology for stages of cave development using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry U-series dating on flowstones, and the rate of downcutting -by establishing a chronology for a series of alluvial terraces using red thermoluminescence dating. Using these techniques we have determined that the estimated rate of karstification (113 AE 26 mm ka À1 ) is slower than the average rate of downcutting (305 AE 24 mm ka À1 ), and the combined rate of landscape incision (217 AE 18 mm ka À1 ) is slower than the known rate of tectonic uplift for this region derived from raised coral terraces (450 AE 50 mm ka À1 ). This suggests that rivers are quicker to respond to tectonic instability, but both cave and river systems display a slower rate of incision and karstification than uplift. Correlations between these components of the landscape system reveal a strong, interacting relationship where defined phases of uplift are reflected in the pattern of karstification and cycles of downcutting. An understanding of this relationship has been pivotal in reconstructing the formation and geomorphic history of archaeological caves such as Liang Bua.

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China and Southeast Asia

Penny¹

2012

Quaternary Environmental Change in the Tropics

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The Quaternary in the tropics: an introduction

Cited by 10 publications

References 15 publications

Prehistoric Foragers and Farmers in South-east Asia: Renewed Investigations at Niah Cave, Sarawak

Prehistoric Foragers and Farmers in South-east Asia: Renewed Investigations at Niah Cave, Sarawak

Establishing rates of karst landscape evolution in the Tropics: a context for the formation of archaeological sites in western Flores, Indonesia

China and Southeast Asia

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