Modern Humans May Have Lived Alongside an Extinct Human S...

What’s Happening

Breaking it down: Learn about the overlap between archaic humans that once lived on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and the modern humans that replaced them.

Deep down in a cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, layer upon layer of archaeological evidence may show how modern humans lived alongside archaic humans. Years of excavation have brought the cave’s history to light, revealing a major transition between two phases of human occupation during the Pleistocene epoch. (yes, really)

A new study published in PLOS One describes the stone artifacts and fossilized animal remains that have been found 8 meters (about 26 feet) below the surface at the limestone cave, known as Leang Bulu Bettue.

The Details

The findings establish a clear divide between two phases of human occupation; the later phase, marked and artistic expression, may have been ushered in of modern humans as early as 65,000 years ago. : 773,000-Year-Old Fossils Capture a Moment Before Human Lineages Split Turning Back Time Leang Bulu Bettue Cave Site (Image Credit: Basran Burhan) The island of Sulawesi is home to several archaeological sites that have been crucial in studies of hominin expansion into Southeast Asia.

Previous research has found that hominins likely began occupying the island at least 1. 04 million years ago, according to a study in Nature.

Why This Matters

But, archaeologists haven’t determined which archaic hominin species kicked off living here first; it could have been Homo erectus , Denisovans, a relative of Homo floresiensis (which inhabited the near Flores), or even a species that isnt yet documented. Over the years, excavations at Leang Bulu Bettue have gradually unearthed additional details about the hominin occupants of the cave. Now, archaeologists have reached depths of 8 meters, encountering layers of preserved evidence that have never been observed before.

The scientific community tends to find developments like this significant.

The Bottom Line

Now, archaeologists have reached depths of 8 meters, encountering layers of preserved evidence that have never been observed before. While the initial layers beneath the surface show the items left , the lower layers contain the remnants of archaic human occupation.

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