Sundaland home to humans since millions of years ago

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia’s natural comforts have actually been noticed by humans since millions of years ago when they chose to migrate from other continents to Indonesia’s islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara.

The discoveries of human skeletons and very simple living tools such as shark teeth and stone axes on the islands show that these areas have been  comfortable places for them to live.

In addition to these five islands, the Sunda Land (Sundaland) is also believed to be a place of human life from tens of thousands of years ago.

A 2018 report by researchers from the National Archaeological Research Center, Shinatria Adhityatama and Ajeng Salma Yarista, stated that the Sunda Land is a continental shelf which is an extension of the Eurasian Plate in Southeast Asia.

Some 20,000 years ago Sundaland’s sea level was 116 meters below that in the present time, making the area a fully open expanse.

According to the Les Groube report, around 46,000 years ago humans migrated to reach what is now called Laos.

Based on these two circumstances, a number of scientists have argued that there was human civilization in the Sundanese Mainland during this period. However, until now there has been no evidence to support the theory of the existence of ancient human civilization in the Sunda Exposure.

Java

On the other hand, the island of Java has been a place of human life since the Lower Middle Pleistocene Period (Lower Middle Pleistocen) or around 300,000 years ago with the discovery of traces of life in Sangiran (Central Java) and Trinil (East Java).

Research from Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugene Dubois in the 1890s revealed that Homo erectus at the Trinil site was able to make geometric engravings on shells dating back from 500,000 years ago.

They are also known to have scratched using freshwater shark teeth, which are also used to scratch and open shells so they can be eaten.

The results of this study were a breakthrough to find patterns of human behaviour during the initial period of occupation in Sundaland.

Reporting by Indonesia Window