Ref ID:	23516
Ref Type:	Book Section
Authors:	Veth, Peter O'Connor, Susan Spriggs, Matthew
Title:	After Wallace: preliminary results of the first season's excavation of Liang Lemdubu, Aru Islands, Maluku
Date:	1998
Source:	Southeast Asian Archaeology 1996: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Leiden, 2-6 September 1996
Place of Publication:	Hull
Publisher:	Centre for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull
Abstract:	The Aru Islands are highly significant in a biogeographic sense to the peopling of Australia as they were once part of a continuous landbridge between the landmass and Irian Jaya. They became islands some 8,000 years ago and since that time must have comprised a stepping stone for colonizers coming out from Southeast Asia. Initial excavations have revealed a record of human occupation spanning some 30,000 years. The inhabitants of the large cave, Liang Lemdubu, have exploited both rainforests and woodlands, and later coastal areas, during that time. There is a plethora of evidence for the long-term reliance on marsupial fauna such as wallaby, bandicoot, cuscus and cassowary. Material evidence for Austronesian settlement of Aru has been recovered from coastal middens. Settlements probably relating to early Javanese Islamic trade expansion and dating to the early 15th century have also been recently located in the island group. It is planned to carry out four years of systematic survey and excavation in the Aru Islands.
Date Created:	11/3/2009
Editors:	Klokke, Marijke J. de Bruijn, Thomas
Page Start:	75
Page End:	85