Gunung Kidul, ancient man home

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

People living near Gunung Kidul are used to being called country bumpkins from the mountain -- a reference to their perceived backwardness and lack of education. However, if we gaze far, far back into the past, we see that this reference is extremely inappropriate, as the ancestors of modern man lived in the Gunung Kidul area.

Only those ignorant of history will consider the Gunung Kidul people in Yogyakarta as backward and uneducated. It turns out that the area now known as Pegunungan Seribu, stretching from the southern coastal area to the northern part of Gunung Kidul regency, used to be the dwelling place of ancient man.

Thousands of years ago, this area was home to ancient man. For centuries, they lived in the mountainous area before emerging and trekking into low-lying areas of what are now Wonosari and Yogyakarta.

Traces of the civilization of ancient man in Gunung Kidul are now being studied by a team from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University's Integrated Project of Archaeological Areas.

The project leader, Susetyo Edi Yuwono, who is a lecturer in the university's Department of Archaeology, said that since 1998 his department had been excavating a number of archaeological sites in the Gunung Kidul area, including a number of caves, or song in the local language.

"In this area you can find hundreds of rock shelters or caves, where the relics of ancient man's life are thought to be. From the six sites under excavation, we have found much evidence that this area used to be the seat of the civilization of ancient man.

"In the course of the excavation in Song Bentar and Song Blentong, we have found various human and animal fossils, as well as hunting tools," Susetyo said at Song Bentar in Ponjong, Gunung Kidul regency.

Within just a week of excavation work in the two locations, his team had found numerous fossils. The team is confident that if they continue the work, get more financial support and some help from the regional administration, more fossils will be found.

Susetyo said his team needed more money to cover its operational costs. Another problem, he added, is that in the field their excavation work can clash with the economic interests of the locals.

In several locations in the area thought to be archaeologically important, the hills and caves have been exploited by locals for mining. Many of the hills and caves in Gunung Kidul are now mining sites for lime or calcite, phosphate, gypsum and other minerals.

"The fact that these mining activities ignore the environmental and historical significance of these places is reason enough for our deep concern. In fact, we have brought up this matter with the Gunung Kidul regional administration, but it can do very little because the mining permits come from the provincial administration. Look, there are a lot of historical caves, like Lawa Cave in Ponjong, for example, that have been totally destroyed by mining," Susetyo said.

Lawa Cave, the largest in Ponjong, is believed to be one of the main dwelling places of ancient man. Over the past nine years, the contents of the cave, mainly guano, have been depleted. The cave itself is in a state of utter destruction.

Guano, which is a very expensive natural fertilizer, has done great damage to the archaeological treasures of the cave. In terms of archaeology, the cave is thought to be invaluable, as once a number of fossilized animals like horses and cows, as well as hunting tools, were found in the guano.

This discovery, said Susetyo, came from only a single location. In Gunung Kidul, there are 18 districts believed to have unexcavated archaeological sites. There are traces of ancient life in the hundreds of caves in this area.

"Our initial conclusion is that in the Mesolithic period, about 10,000 years ago, the Gunung Kidul area was a seat of life for ancient man. This continued to the more recent periods, until they went down and began to live in the low-lying areas such as Wonosari."

Information gathered from the excavations in Song Bentar and Song Blendrong, said Susetyo, can give a representative illustration of how our ancient ancestors' lived.

In Song Bentar, for instance, both human fossils and fossilized large animals like boars, bulls and tigers have been found. Moreover, the team also discovered arrows, which were used for hunting. An analysis of the soil structure and other findings have led the team to assume that the cave, located along the border with Central Java, saw at least three different phases of ancient settlement.

Based on the preliminary findings from these sites, the team is convinced the Pegunungan Seribu area used to be the seat of life for ancient man.

"Interestingly, in our research in Gunung Kidul, we found the fossilized teeth of a hippopotamus during the excavation of Sengok Cave in Playen subdistrict. After being examined, the fossilized teeth were found to be as old as the fossils of other animals found in the same area. Most likely, the hippopotamus used to live in this area and was eaten by man," said Susetyo.

He is convinced that the team, with financial and political support, can collect more evidence to prove that the Gunung Kidul area was at one time the seat of a civilization of ancient man.