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Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum.

ABSTRACT: The insular region of Wallacea has become a focal point for studying Pleistocene human ecological and cultural adaptations in island environments, however, little is understood about early burial traditions during the Pleistocene. Here we investigate maritime interactions and burial practices at Ratu Mali 2, an elevated coastal cave site on the small island of Kisar in the Lesser Sunda Islands of eastern Indonesia dated to 15,500-3700 cal. BP. This multidisciplinary study demonstrates extreme marine dietary adaptations, engagement with an extensive exchange network across open seas, and early mortuary practices. A flexed male and a female, interred in a single grave with abundant shellfish and obsidian at Ratu Mali 2 by 14.7 ka are the oldest known human burials in Wallacea with established funerary rites. These findings highlight the impressive flexibility of our species in marginal environments and provide insight into the earliest known ritualised treatment of the dead in Wallacea.

SUBMITTER: Hawkins S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10762057 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum.

Hawkins Stuart S Zetika Gabriella Ayang GA Kinaston Rebecca R Firmando Yulio Ray YR Sari Devi Mustika DM Suniarti Yuni Y Lucas Mary M Roberts Patrick P Reepmeyer Christian C Maloney Tim T Kealy Shimona S Stirling Claudine C Reid Malcolm M Barr David D Kleffmann Torsten T Kumar Abhishek A Yuwono Pratiwi P Litster Mirani M Husni Muhammad M Ririmasse Marlon M Mahirta Mujabuddawat Muhammad M Harriyadi O'Connor Sue S

Scientific reports 20240102 1

The insular region of Wallacea has become a focal point for studying Pleistocene human ecological and cultural adaptations in island environments, however, little is understood about early burial traditions during the Pleistocene. Here we investigate maritime interactions and burial practices at Ratu Mali 2, an elevated coastal cave site on the small island of Kisar in the Lesser Sunda Islands of eastern Indonesia dated to 15,500-3700 cal. BP. This multidisciplinary study demonstrates extreme ma ...[more]

PMID: 38168501

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Project description:BackgroundVirtually all well-documented remains of early domestic dog (Canis familiaris) come from the late Glacial and early Holocene periods (ca. 14,000-9000 calendar years ago, cal BP), with few putative dogs found prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 26,500-19,000 cal BP). The dearth of pre-LGM dog-like canids and incomplete state of their preservation has until now prevented an understanding of the morphological features of transitional forms between wild wolves and domesticated dogs in temporal perspective.Methodology/principal findingWe describe the well-preserved remains of a dog-like canid from the Razboinichya Cave (Altai Mountains of southern Siberia). Because of the extraordinary preservation of the material, including skull, mandibles (both sides) and teeth, it was possible to conduct a complete morphological description and comparison with representative examples of pre-LGM wild wolves, modern wolves, prehistoric domesticated dogs, and early dog-like canids, using morphological criteria to distinguish between wolves and dogs. It was found that the Razboinichya Cave individual is most similar to fully domesticated dogs from Greenland (about 1000 years old), and unlike ancient and modern wolves, and putative dogs from Eliseevichi I site in central Russia. Direct AMS radiocarbon dating of the skull and mandible of the Razboinichya canid conducted in three independent laboratories resulted in highly compatible ages, with average value of ca. 33,000 cal BP.Conclusions/significanceThe Razboinichya Cave specimen appears to be an incipient dog that did not give rise to late Glacial-early Holocene lineages and probably represents wolf domestication disrupted by the climatic and cultural changes associated with the LGM. The two earliest incipient dogs from Western Europe (Goyet, Belguim) and Siberia (Razboinichya), separated by thousands of kilometers, show that dog domestication was multiregional, and thus had no single place of origin (as some DNA data have suggested) and subsequent spread.

Dataset Information

Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum.

Publications

Earliest known funerary rites in Wallacea after the last glacial maximum.

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