Continuity in Tropical Cave Use: Examples from East Timor and the Aru Islands, Maluku PETER VETH, MATTHEW SPRIGGS, AND SUE O'CONNOR IN THIS PAPER WE EXAMINE the evidence for long-term cave use from the Aru Islands located in Maluku province of eastern Indonesia and from East Timor. Both study areas are located within the low-latitude tropical zone north of Aus­ tralia and represent likely early stepping-stones for anatomically modern humans colonizing the continent of Sahul (Fig. 1). Excavations by the authors between 2000 and 2002 in East Timor at the cave sites of Lene Hara, Matja Kuru 1 and 2, and Telupunu, and in the Aru Islands at the cave sites of Liang Lemdubu and Nabulei Lisa in 1996 and 1997, have provided rich occupation sequences span­ ning the last 30,000 years (O'Connor et al. 2002a, 2002b; Spriggs et al. 1998, 2003; Veth et al. 1998a, 1998b). All of these caves are now located within sec­ ondary growth forest, but we know from detailed faunal analysis of the Aru sites and from general climatic data that the boundaries and nature of these forests and the distance of some sites from the sea have changed significantly through time (cf O'Connor et al. 2002a: 302). Despite this, we suggest that these caves dem­ onstrate a continuity of use through time. Reviews of cave archaeology in tropi­ cal Southeast Asia often stress the homogeneity, protein paucity, and impenetra­ ble nature of rainforests, conveying a sense of the caves' centrality and isolation from other habitation sites in the landscape (Bailey et al. 1989; Bailey and Head­ land 1991). We challenge this portrayal, arguing that the cave sites we have studied formed locations within much larger cultural landscapes. THE EAST TIMOR CAVES In East Timor, Ian Glover carried out an extensive test-pitting and excavation program in the Baucau, Venilale, Laga, and Baguia regions in 1966-1967 (Glover 1969, 1986). The oldest dated site was a small deep cave/fissure named Uai Bobo 2 in the interior, from which he obtained an age of ca. 13,400 B.P. A range of other cave sites both in the interior and near the coast returned a range of dates Peter Veth, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies; Matthew Spriggs, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, Australian National University; Sue O'Connor, Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. Asian Perspectives, Vol. 44, No. t © 2005 by the University ofHawai'j Press. VETH ET AL. • CONTINUITY IN TROPICAL CAVE USE 181 o kilometres 200 I I "'A DAMAR TEU~ 'C' ~ B AR LETI ~~~r,~ Fig. 1. The Sahul shelf and East Timor, showing major sites excavated and discussed in the text. all in the Holocene period. As noted by Pannell and O'Connor (this volume), Glover argued that these caves were not representative of general settlement and subsistence patterns and were likely to be skewed toward specialized kinds of activities. During our background review of his excavation data, however, it be­ came clear that some of the cave sequences, such as Bui Ceri Uato, located adja­ cent to a permanent spring near the coast, shared many of the characteristics one might expect of a generalized habitation site, with intensive occupation continu­ ing both before and during the Neolithic phases of its occupation (Table 1). These attributes included extremely high artifact densities, high proportions of retouched/utilized implements, and a diverse assemblage of economic fauna, indi­ cating that the site probably acted as a central locale for a wide range of activities. Glover's detailed analysis of lithic and faunal suites from four sites illustrates that there are major differences in assemblages depending upon their position in the landscape and the configuration of the caves themselves. For example, the Bui Ceri Uato cave site is a very extensive shelter providing a substantial pro­ tected surface area for both earlier hunter-gatherer groups and later agricultural groups (who may have incorporated the cave within a village complex). The dense assemblages are dominated by cherts and have a significant marine faunal component. The numerous pounders, anvils, and grindstones recorded further suggest the cave's use as a major habitation site (Glover 1986: 110-116). The greatest density of stone artifacts was recorded in horizon IV; concentrations of 182 ASIAN PERSPECTIVES 44(1) SPRING 2005 TABLE 1. FREQUENCIES OF STONE ARTIFACTS AND MNI (MINIMUM NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS) FOR MURIDS AND SHELLFISH AT Bm CERI UATO' CORES + FLAKES SHELL DATE WASTE TRIMMING UTILIZED WITH SECONDARY MURIDS MNII HORIZON (B.P.) FLAKES FLAKES FLAKES GLOSS WORKING MNI RICHNESS X-IX 0-750 742 29 171 33 1 32/19 VIII 750-1500 2,284 56 122 2 67 1 116/29 VII 1500-2500 4,101 97 117 12 112 2 161/31 VI 2500-3500 6,376 166 119 20 195 3 207/27 V 3500-4500 5,714 147 159 11 132 6 163/25 IV 4500-5500 4,837 143 149 11 139 6 211/25 III 5500-6500 4,898 149 169 18 81 5 333/25 II 6500-7500 5,558 157 207 4 112 11 349/28 I 7500-8500 1,803 77 54 35 1 189/19 Total 36,313 1,021 1,267 78 906 36 1,761 "Total volume excavated approximately 8 m 3 Data from Glover 1986:96-125. 3 up to 15,000 flakes per m . In contrast, Uai Bobo 2 cave, situated in the interior at 600 m altitude, is a small, cramped setting containing assemblages of much 3 lower density lithics (with a maximum of only 1270 flakes per m ), has only one basal processing stone (thought by Glover to have been used for flaking), and lacks the major marine economic shellfish suites (shellfish are largely present as in­ dustrial items, such as ornaments). (See Table 2.) Similarly, Uai Bobo 1 cave reg­ 2 isters a maximum artifact density of 2000 stone artifacts per m . Glover (1986: 207) provided a measure of the intensity of occupation for these three sites by calculating the discard rate ofstone artifacts with secondary working both for pre- and post-pottery levels. The rates do not show a marked change in order of magnitude between earlier aceramic levels and those clearly containing pottery (Table 3). These and other important differences between the cave assem­ blages led us to wonder to what extent cave occupation might in fact be embedded in larger settlement/subsistence systems and to what degree caves rep­ resent accurate sampling points ofwider land-use patterns and behavioral variabil­ ity within territories through time. Our surveys since 2000, covering extensive coastal tracts east from Laga La­ goon on the coast and from Mehara within the interior forests, have resulted in the recording of numerous cave and rock shelter sites (O'Connor et al. 2002a; Spriggs et al. 2003). Many of these sites were named and had evidence for recent activity, and some were being used as residential bases. Following the recording of these and other categories of cave sites, our increasing impression was that a wide variety of both secular and sacred activities was documented within caves and therefore that they had the potential to inform on larger settlement/subsistence patterns. The possibility existed that such widespread use of caves also existed in the past, and that East Timorese caves always formed integral parts of both do­ mestic and totemic landscapes. Excavation of the large solution cave of Lene Hara, situated in a raised lime­ stone terrace at the far eastern tip of East Timor and only 1 km from the coast, has provided a record for occupation back to ca. 35,000 B.P. (O'Connor et al. VETH ET AL. CONTINUITY IN TROPICAL CAVE USE 183 TABLE 2. FREQUENCIES OF STONE ARTIFACTS AND MNI (MINIMUM NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS) FOR MURIDS AND SHELLFISH AT VAl BOBO 2 a CORES + FLAKES DATE WASTE TRIMMING UTILIZED WITH 2ND MURIDS SHELL HORIZON (B.P.) FLAKES FLAKES FLAKES GLOSS WORKING MNI (ORNAMENTS) XIII 600-900 25 6 6 XII 1400-1700 8 1 19 XI 1900-2200 12 2 15 X 3200-3800 168 3 14 2 9 152 1 IX 3800-4300 1058 3 36 27 40 24 11 VIII 5000-5200 1205 15 61 23 45 20 24 VII 5700-6200 2190 27 79 44 95 108 11 VI 5900-6500 324 17 9 18 39 5 V 6300-7000 273 5 14 3 19 73 1 IV 7400-8200 71 2 1 5 321 III 9300-10600 6 549 II 10,600-12,200 719 I 13,800-15,800 1 355 Total 5,340 55 233 109 232 2,400 53 'Data from Glover 1986: 161-94. 2002b). The deposits contained pottery in the upper levels, with stone artifacts, marine shell, and small quantities of other economic fauna throughout the se­ quence. Species include fish, marine turtle, small murids, snakes, lizards, crabs, and dogs, as well as now extinct giant rat. A uniform flake-based lithic assemblage on red chert was recovered that is similar to Pleistocene assemblages described from northern Australia (cf. O'Connor and Veth 2000b; O'Connor et al. 2002b). Marine shells were dominated by rocky platform species including Strombus, Trochus, Lambis, Turbo, and Nerita. Importantly there do not seem to be major changes in the proportions of these shellfish or the lithic assemblages throughout the deposit. The site appears to comprise two phases of occupation. The first phase of the deposit built up ca. 35,000-30,000 years ago, when the site probably acted as a transit camp between the coast and inland.