Illegal digging threatens prehistoric relics

Illegal digging threatens prehistoric relics

Bambang M and Gigin W Utomo, Contributors, Yogyakarta

Apart from the natural scenery of a beautiful karst, Pegunungan
Sewu mountain range in Gunungkidul in southeastern Yogyakarta
boasts numerous archaeological findings, ranging from human and
animal fossils, ceramic fragments to stoneware.

Extensive findings have presented evidence that the mountain
range was inhabited by human beings thousands of years ago,
prompting archeologists to consider the area a capital of
prehistoric life.

Study reveals that most human beings living in the area in
prehistoric days were predominantly Mongoloid, while others had
Australomelanesian characteristics, such as oval craniums,
vertical cranium walls and prominent jaws.

"They lived in the Pegunungan Sewu mountain range between
12,000 and 8,000 B.C.," said Anggraeni of the Gadjah Mada
University (UGM) School of Archeology.

According to experts, the formation of Pegunungan Sewu
mountain range began in the form of coral rock karst in the
Miocene period and later surfaced during the Pleistocene period.
However, river erosion and water infiltration on the karst over
thousands of years eventually changed it into a beautiful
mountain range with conical karst and caves that are still
evident up to the present time.

When prehistoric man lived there, Pegunungan Sewu mountain
range, which was previously below sea level, had become a dense
forest and a habitat of various fauna. Evidence includes
countless findings of various fauna fossils, such as from deer
and wild cats.

"The reason why prehistoric people were willing to live there
was because it was as an ideal area, rich with food supplies,
shelter and materials to create various tools," Anggraeni said.

For shelter, for example, prehistoric man chose caves or
hollows. There were plenty such places in the area.

Convincing evidence that prehistoric man once used the caves
for shelter was gathered during an excavation by PTKA, an
integrated research team for the Gunungkidul archeological site
of the UGM School of Archeology in March 2002.

The excavation, which took place at Song (Cave) Bentar in
Kenteng village and Song Blendrong in Tambakromo village, for
example, found various findings that confirmed that prehistoric
people did once live in the caves.

"The findings included, among other things, human bones,
animal bones, ceramic fragments and fragments of various
household articles made of stone and bone," Tjahjono Prasodjo of
the UGM School of Archeology said.

Archeologists could have found more in the caves, but they
were unfortunately competing with unauthorized diggings conducted
by local residents in search of either guano or precious stones
called watu lintang. Guano is used as fertilizer while watu
lintang or batu lintang is used as a raw material to produce
glass.

"They (local residents) did not realize that the caves housed
precious relics of prehistoric civilization, and that were
damaging relics that were important for further archeological
studies," Tjahjono said.

In Lawa Cave in Ponjong region, for example, while local
people were collecting guano from the cave during daytime, the
UGM archeological team conducted excavation work in it at night.

Similar problems were also encountered at other caves,
including Song Bentar and Song Blendrong. The team feared that
important archeological relics had already disappeared or been
destroyed since local residents had started excavating stones
years before the team conducted research there.

"We often found small bones while digging, but we did not take
any out. We put them back in the cave," said Satiman, a villager
of Kenteng. He added that most local residents had stopped
looking for watu lintang in the 1980s due to a drop in prices.

What happened in Song Sengok in Getas village, Playen, was no
different. In 2001, the archeological team found hippopotamus
fossils. However, local people had already been working in the
cave to collect guano.

"My father often found bones while searching for guano in the
cave, but he did not take them out. He just left them there,"
said Mursinah, whose house is above Sengok Cave.

Another cause of concern, according to Tjahjono, was the karst
quarrying activities conducted in the mountain range that might
also house prehistoric relics.

But people, he said, could not be blamed since most of them,
especially local residents, do not fully understand the
importance of such findings -- meaning the government and
archeologists are left with the task of educating people about
the importance of managing archeological resources in their
respective areas.