Knowledge Tree
Wallacea
Facts (10)
Sources
The role of Plant Foods in the evolution and Dispersal of early Humans kernsverlag.com Jul 30, 2022 10 facts
claimO’Connell and Allen (2012) characterize the movement of early modern humans through Wallacea as a rapid expansion driven by the availability of high-ranked, easily over-predated coastal resources.
referenceThe archaeological record in Pleistocene Wallacea lacks evidence of grinding stones and ground-edge axes, according to Shipton et al. (2020).
claimThe exploitation of a broad range of marine resources is argued to have underpinned the successful dispersal of Homo sapiens and limited the movements of earlier hominin populations through Wallacea.
referenceShipton et al. (2020) conducted the first excavations on Obi Island, documenting early ground axe technology in the Wallacea region.
accountThe earliest figurative art in the Wallacea region, dating to 45.5 kya at Leang Tedongnge and 43.9 kya at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 in Sulawesi, depicts therianthrops hunting wild pigs and dwarf bovids.
referenceShipton, O’Connor, and Kealy (2021) analyzed the biogeographic threshold of Wallacea in the context of human evolution.
referenceS. Carlhoff and colleagues sequenced the genome of a Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer from Wallacea, as reported in a 2021 study published in Nature.
claimPlant foods and processing technologies, such as cooking, grinding, and leaching, were essential to the dietary flexibility and adaptive capacity of early modern humans and their ancestors in Africa, Eurasia, Wallacea, and Sahul.
referenceRoberts et al. (2020) provided isotopic evidence indicating initial coastal colonization and subsequent diversification in the human occupation of Wallacea.
claimIn the smaller islands of Wallacea, such as Sulawesi, Luzon, and Flores, settlement during the Pleistocene and Holocene was almost entirely reliant on marine fauna until the introduction of domesticated plants and animals, due to the scarcity of large- and medium-bodied terrestrial fauna.