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Manusia Purba Dari Cekungan So’A Badan Geologi - Kementerian Energi dan Sumber Daya Mineral ISSN: 2088-7906 VOL.6 | NO.3 | September 2016 VOL.6 | NO.3 | SEPTEMBER 2016 VOL.6 | NO.3 Badan Geologi - Kementerian Energi dan Sumber Daya Mineral Energi dan Sumber Daya Badan Geologi - Kementerian “Kita yakin, manusia tidak seperti satir tentang ‘evolusi’ manusia (baca: kemanusiaan) ini. Untuk itu, hidup damai dengan sesama dan membangun yang berwawasan lingkungan harus menjadi pilihan.” Manusia Purba dari Cekungan So’a Umur Lima Hari Merayap Mimin Karmini Manusia Purba Menjelajahi Perlahan Setia di Jalan Cekungan So’a Pulau Bunga di Bajawa Mikropal Sumber: Internet. 1 IBERBUMI EDITORIAL Menggali Masa Lalu Lembah So’a, Flores Lembah So’a di Kabupaten Bajawa, Flores, telah tampil di dunia dalam ranah paleontologi manusia. Flores dan Adaptasi yang Sukses Temuan-temuan artefak dan fosil-fosil hewan purba, di antaranya spesies baru bangsa gajah Stegodon florensis dan gigi manusia purba, kembali membuka mata dunia tentang keberadaan manusia kerdil di Flores setelah temuan spektakuler di Situs Liang Bua di Ruteng, Flores pada awal 2000-an. Indonesia khususnya Pulau Jawa dikenal dalam dunia paleontologi sebagai salah Situs Mata Menge seperti ilustrasi di sini, merupakan situs terpenting tempat banyak ditemukannya fosil- satu lokasi penting temuan fosil manusia purba (hominim). Namun, kini Flores, Nusa fosil dan artefak manusia Flores purba. Bukti-bukti keberadaan mereka dijumpai pada sekuens lapisan Tenggara Timur (NTT), juga mulai menarik perhatian dunia. Hal ini bermula dari berciri endapan danau dan sungai yang dinamai Unit B. temuan fosil hobit (hobbit) - spesies manusia bertubuh dan bervolume otak kecil - Para peneliti gabungan Indonesia dan Australia berpendapat bahwa Stegodon florensis justru bermigrasi usia 60.000 - 100.000 tahun yang lalu (tyl) di Liang Bua oleh tim peneliti gabungan dari utara (Sulawesi) alih-alih dari barat (Kepulauan Sunda) seperti yang dipercayai selama ini. Umur mereka dari Arkenas-Australia pada 2001 yang secara ilmiah diberi nama Homo floressiensis. berkisar 700.000 hingga 880.000 tahun yang lalu. Kemudian, belakangan ini ditemukan fosil hominim berusia sekitar 700.000 tyl Satuan berwarna abu-abu terang hingga putih, menghalus ke dari Mata Menge, Cekungan So’a, oleh tim peneliti gabungan dari Badan Geologi- atas, dengan lapisan-lapisan tipis dan lensa-lensa batupasir Australia pada 2014, dan telah dipublikasikan oleh Nature, edisi Juni 2016. Seperti berbagai ukuran butir. Bagian bawahnya berupa batupasir tuf. Banyak mengandung kerikil andesit dan basalt, serta artefak apa hominim terakhir ini? Bagaimana kaitannya dengan homini sebelumnya dan alat batu. Lingkungan pengendapan diperkirakan pesisir danau lingkungan Flores di masa lalu, kini dan ke depan? dan/atau muara sungai ke danau. Fosil pecahan Stegodon banyak ditemukan di satuan ini. Fosil hominim yang ditemukan di Mata Menge - di Flores, menunjukkan adanya gejala perkembangan sebut saja “Manusia Mata Menge” atau “Manusia Purba tubuh yang semakin membesar (gigantisme) pada dari Cekungan So’a” - berupa beberapa bagian dari beberapa jenis fauna. Kondisi ini, dari sisi biologi, tengkorak, yaitu gigi atas, gigi depan, pecahan rahang, dapat pula disebut sebagai adaptasi yang sukses dan gigi susu. Selain hominim, ditemukan pula fosil mengatasi persaingan di alam dalam mempertahankan kehidupan bahkan mengungguli yang lainnya. Apakah Batulempung lanauan homogen, lunak, coklat gajah, tikus, komodo, dan burung, serta artefak. Dari kemerahmudaan. Diendapkan pada lingkungan hasil analisis para ahli terhadap fosil-fosil tesebut, faktor penyebab dwarfirisme dan gigantisme ini? perairan yang tenang (danau atau dataran banjir Rekonstruksi lingkungan purba disimpulkan beberapa hal, yaitu: ada tiga individu Kemampuan adaptasilah yang terpenting. Ancaman sungai). Miskin artefak maupun pecahan fosil tulang. berbeda, satu dewasa dan dua anak kecil; berukuran kepunahan akibat letusan gunung api di Flores, tinggi dewasa sekitar satu meter, umur sekitar 700.000 terutama di masa lalu, sangat nyata dan bisa kapan tyl, dan hidup dengan berburu di lingkungan sabana saja terjadi. Sampai taraf tertentu, hal ini berlaku yang luas. Kesimpulan lainnya yang penting adalah juga hingga sekarang. Menurut Iwan, kemampuan bahwa mereka punah akibat tertimbun oleh batuan komodo dan tikus raksasa Flores dalam membuat hasil letusan gunung api di sekitarnya. lubang, diduga merupakan faktor penting dalam menyelamatkan diri dari kepunahan akibat bencana Para peneliti Mata Menge periode 2010-2015, antara gunung api. lain Fachroel Aziz dan Iwan Kurniwan dari Museum Geologi, dan Gerrit D. van den Bergh dari Universitas Terlepas dari pertanyaan - yang biasanya dialamatkan Wollongong, Australia, berpendapat bahwa Manusia kepada riset yang berkenaan dengan manusia purba Mata Menge ini mungkin berasal dari Jawa (Homo - apakah temuan itu mendukung teori Darwin erectus, tinggi antar 135 - 210 cm, dan usia sekitar tentang evolusi atau tidak, satu hal menjadi jelas 1,8 - 1,0 juta tyl); atau hominim sejenis dari utara. bahwa pulau besar di wilayah NTT itu sangatlah unik. Ketiganya juga berpendapat bawah Manusia Mata Lingkungannya yang keras dari sudut pandang iklim Menge bukanlah hobit, tapi mungkin merupakan dan ketersediaan makanan dan kemampuan adaptasi Stegodon florensis nenek moyang hobit Liang Bua. Jika demikian dengan lingkungan dari berbagai makhluk hidup, adanya, dengan melihat fakta bahwa fosil gajah yang menyebabkan keragaman biologi baik jenis maupun ditemukan dari daerah ini (Stegodon) juga ukuran evolusi. Hal ini ditambah dengan alam dan budayanya tubuhnya kecil dibanding gajah sekarang ini (Elephas), yang kaya, seperti Kelimutu dan masyarakat adat UNIT B hal ini menguatkan dugaan bahwa terjadi proses Bena yang juga unik, adalah modal besar untuk perkembangan tubuh yang mengecil - disebut gejala pembangunan Flores yang berbasis konservasi dan dwarfirisme - untuk hominim dan beberapa jenis mitigasi bencana. Inilah cara baru adaptasi di era mamalia tertentu di Flores. modern untuk meraih hidup yang berkualitas yang dapat diwariskan dari generasi ke generasi untuk Sementara itu, di Liang Bua juga ditemukan fosil kelestarian alam dan peningkatan kesejahteraan. burung dan tikus yang memiliki ukuran tubuh sangat besar dibanding kondisi hewan sejenis saat ini. Hal ini, dengan fakta bahwa komodo dan tikus sebagai fauna besar yang masih dapat dijumpai hingga kini Oman Abdurahman UNIT A Pemimpin Redaksi Konsep: Budi Brahmantyo Grafis: Ayi R. Sacadipura Sumber: Aziz, F., Morwood, M.J. and van den Bergh, G.D. (2009). Pelistocene Geology, Palaeontology and Archaeology of the Soa Basin, Central Flores, 1 Indonesia. Spec. Publ. No. 36, Pusat Survei Geologi, Dep. ESDM, Bandung. VOL.6 | NO.3 | SEPTEMBER 2016 ISSN: 2088-7906 SURAT Foto sampul: “Lukisan manusia purba dari Cekungan So’a”. Ilustrasi oleh: Ayi Sacadipura dengan perwajahan dikembangkan dari Di zaman yang serba canggih seperti saat ini, menurut saya media internal (inhouse magazine) yang diterbitkan lembaga- hasil reka wajah manusia Liang Bua oleh Susan Hayes. lembaga publik jelas sangat diperlukan. Sebab, media tersebut berperan sebagai jembatan komunikasi antara manajemen dengan karyawan dan antarkaryawan; selain itu juga sebagai alat untuk pembentuk citra (image building) suatu perusahaan/organisasi karena fungsi media internal juga dapat dijadikan sebagai media promosi dan komunikasi dengan ARTIKEL MUSEOLOGI “stakeholder”. 18 Manusia Purba dari Cekungan So’a 64 Ladang Fosil Moluska Cijurey-Tonjong Bila memperhatikan Geomagz, rasa-rasanya kedua peran di atas sudah terwadahi oleh majalah tersebut. Pertama, Hari itu 8 Oktober 2014, di Mata Moluska merupakan kelompok hewan Geomagz menyertakan para penulis dari seluruh lingkungan Badan Geologi. Kehadiran Geomagz juga menunjukkan Menge, Flores, cuaca sangat terik. bertubuh lunak, tidak bersegmen, dan semacam sambungan sejarah sebagaimana yang saya ikuti dari bundelan majalah geologi lama di Perpustakaan Pusat Penggalian fosil yang sangat biasanya dilapisi oleh bagian tubuh melelahkan berlangsung seperti yang keras (cangkang). Bagian keras Survei Geologi, yakni Berita Geologi, pada era redaksi Kama Kusumadinata (1970-an). Saat-saat itu, nampak, terasa benar, biasanya. Kondisi lahan yang sangat itulah yang terawetkan menjadi fosil. peran dan fungsi Berita Geologi sebagai jembatan komunikasi antara manajemen dengan karyawan dan antarkaryawan. kering menambah parah dampak Kadang-kadang hanya ditemukan Kedua, saya juga melihat kehadiran para penulis dan pemotret dari luar yang menghiasi halaman-halaman berwarna terbangnya debu-debu tuf dari pahatan berupa cetakan, tetapi masih dapat palu para penggali fosil. diidentifikasi. Saat ini diperkirakan ada majalah Geomagz. Para penulis tersebut tentu saja datang dari kalangan akademisi dari perguruan tinggi di sekitar 35 ribu jenis moluska dalam bentuk Bandung (ITB, UNPAD, UNINUS), maupun luar Bandung (UGM, dll). Demikian pula para profesional yang bergerak di fosil. bidang kebumian, ada saja yang berkontribusi pada setiap terbitan Geomagz yang saya ikuti pada situs Badan Geologi. 26 Perjalanan Panjang Menelusuri Jejak Manusia Hal kedua ini, saya pikir, menunjukkan bahwa Geomagz sudah berperan sebagai wadah yang mengangkat citra Badan Awal di Flores Geologi ke tengah-tengah masyarakat luas, terutama kalangan akademisi, sebagai stakeholder-nya. Apalagi kita baca 30 Umur Manusia Purba Cekungan So’a 68 Kima Raksasa dari Padalarang Geomagz pernah meraih prestasi sebagai media terbaik kedua yang diterbitkan
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