Gunung Kidul, ancient man home

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.