September/October 2023 Issue

AUSTRALIA: Two examples of Aboriginal rock art from Awunbarna, Arnhem Land, are now believed to represent rare images of Indonesian sailing vessels. The illustrations depict watercraft with triangular flags, pennants, and prow adornments typical of fighting ships used in the Maluku Islands. It’s not known how the artist would have encountered the foreign vessels—perhaps through trade or slave raids—but the discovery implies that there was contact between Aboriginal communities in northern Australia and inhabitants of eastern Indonesia around 300 years ago, a relationship that was previously unknown.

THE PHILIPPINES: It’s difficult to ascertain how long humans have used plant materials to make textiles, ropes, and baskets since these objects rarely survive in archaeological contexts. However, microscopic imaging of 39,000-year-old stone tools from the Tabon Caves identified plant residues and wear patterns likely caused when hard bamboo or palm stalks were stripped into pliable fibers that were easier to weave or tie. This is by far the earliest known evidence of people manipulating plants in Southeast Asia.

LAOS: When modern humans first journeyed toward Australia, they stopped for a period in northern Laos. Luminescence dating of sediments in Tam Pà Ling Cave that contain human bones indicates that Homo sapiens arrived in Southeast Asia between 86,000 and 68,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years earlier than previously thought. The new research also suggests that people traveled not only along coastal routes and seaways but along inland river valleys as well.