Arkeo Blusukan

Footprints Suggest Early Humans May Have Walked Upright (David Raichlen, University of Arizona) TUCSON, ARIZONA —  The Washington Post  reports that evolutionary anthropologist David Raichlen of the University of Arizona led a team of researchers who compared footprints made by volunteers and those left some 3.6 million years ago in Laetoli, Tanzania, by members of the genus  Australopithecus . Some of the volunteers walked normally, and some walked with bent knees and bent hips, otherwise known as BKBH. Raichlen suggests the  Australopithecus  footprints resemble those made by modern human upright walkers. “Upright, humanlike bipedal walking goes back four to five million years,” he said.  (resources: Archaeology Magazine, 23/04/2018). To read about previous research on the Laetoli footprints, go to  https://arkeoblusukan.blogspot.com/2016/06/proof-in-prints-in-1976.html

Terjebak dalam Resin Kayu, Burung Ini Terawetkan Selama 100 Juta Tahun   KOMPAS.com --  Peneliti menemukan sisa-sisa spesimen   burung purba yang terawetkan dalam ambar atau resin kayu.   Burung   purba yang diperkirakan hidup sekitar 100 juta tahun yang lalu ini setidaknya mampu memberikan gambaran mengenai bagaimana kehidupan pada saat itu. Di dalam ambar tersebut, terlihat kepala, ekor, leher   burung, dan bahkan juga sayap beserta kakinya. Potongan resin pohon dengan sempurna mengawetkan bulu, daging dan kuku   burung. "Ini merupakan tampilan terlengkap dan terperinci yang pernah kami miliki dan ini sungguh menakjubkan," kata Ryan McKellar dari Museum Royal Saskatchewan, Kanada, seperti dikutip dari   Science Alert , Jumat (9/6/2017).  Hasil rekonstruksi burung Enantiornithes  (Cheung Chung Tat) Tim peneliti menduga jika   burung   kecil ini jatuh dalam genangan getah sesaat setelah menetas, kemudia...

Terungkap, Orang Indonesia Sudah Pintar Bikin Perhiasan sejak Zaman Es KOMPAS.com   - Bangsa Indonesia ternyata sudah mengembangkan kesenian sejak zaman es. Riset yang dilakukan oleh tim peneliti Indonesia dan   Australia   berhasil mengungkap jejak kesenian masa lampau tersebut. Peneliti menemukan cangkang kerang, kuku elang, tulang babirusa, dan tulang hewan berkantung yang pada masanya dipakai sebagai perhiasan. "Temuan ini menunjukkan bahwa tradisi bersolek sebagai salah satu bentuk berkesenian telah berkembang puluhan ribu tahun," kata Iwan Sumantri, arkeolog Universitas Hasanuddin yang terlibat riset. "Tradisi bersolek itu malah mungkin lebih tua dari tradisi membuat lukisan gua," imbuh Iwan ketika dihubungi Kompas.com, Selasa (4/4/2017). Artefak bukti kebiasaan bersolek dan berkesenian itu ditemukan di Leang Bulu Bettue, sebuah gua di Sulewasi yang kaya peninggalan arkeologis, termasuk lukisan gua. Tulang kuskus yang menjadi bagian liontin beryusia 22.0...

Jejak   Berusia 3,6 Juta Tahun Beri Petunjuk tentang Poligami   pada Zaman Purba  KOMPAS.com - Jejak manusia purba berusia 3,6 juta tahun  ditemukan di Tanzania. "Satu jejak individu berukuran lebih besar dari jejak lainnya dalam satu grup, menunjukkan bahwa jejak itu milik seorang laki-laki," kata Giorgio Manzi dari Universitas Roma yang memimpin riset. Laki-laki pemilik jejak yang terbesar itu diduga punya tinggia 165 cm. "Membuatnya menjadi Australophitecus terbesar yang pernah diidentifikasi," imbuhnya. Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi dari University of Florence yang juga terlibat riset mengatakan, jejak itu bisa memberi petunjuk tentang gaya hidup manusia purba masa lalu. Jejak  Australophitecus  afraensis di Tanzania. Jejak itu memberi petunjuk bahwa manusia purba berpoligami ( Raffaella   Pellizzon) "Temuan jejak-jejak ini membuka jendela yang berbeda, ada banyak peluang untuk mempelajari kehidupan sehari-hari manusia spesies ini," ka...

Migrasi Manusia ke Nusantara Membawa Penyakit  KOMPAS.com   - Migrasi manusia pada masa lampau, selain membawa produk kebudayaan, seperti bahasa dan budaya, juga membawa penyakit. Demikian pula migrasi Austronesia ke Nusantara sekitar 4.000 tahun lalu. Sebaran manusia Austronesia di Asia Tenggara (Wikipedia). Dengan memahami migrasi penyakit, penelusuran mengenai asal-usul dan diaspora nenek moyang memiliki dimensi kekinian kuat. "Saya setuju penelusuran asal-usul bangsa ini penting untuk mengetahui gambaran pemikiran, paham, ataupun anggapan tentang sikap suatu bangsa. Pengetahuan tentang asal-usul nenek moyang juga bermanfaat bagi penguatan identitas bangsa Indonesia pada masa mendatang," tutur Sangkot Marzuki, ahli genetika Kepala Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, pembicara kunci simposium Diaspora Austronesia, di Badung, Bali, Selasa (19/7/2016). Selain itu, manfaat kekinian lain, pengetahuan soal asal-usul nenek moyang itu sangat dibutuhkan dalam mengatasi pers...

New Thoughts on Borneo’s “Deep Skull”  SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—“Deep Skull,” a 37,000-year-old cranium discovered in Niah Cave on the island of Borneo, has been examined by Darren Curnoe of the University of New South Wales. When the skull was first studied after its discovery in 1958, researchers concluded that it belonged to an adolescent male who was closely related to modern indigenous Australians. That interpretation became part of a hypothesis postulating that Borneo’s first inhabitants were replaced by migrating farmers from southern China. (Curnoe) According to the  International Business Times , Curnoe suggests the skull belonged to an older woman and that it “more closely resembles people today from more northerly parts of Southeast Asia.” In this view, the remains could represent the ancestors of Borneo’s modern indigenous population. In this scenario, the island’s indigenous people adopted farming some 3,000 years ago. (Curnoe) (Archaeology Magazine, 29/06/2016 )...

East African Bone Technology Analyzed ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA— Sci-News  reports that seven bone tools from East Africa’s Kuumbi Cave, including five projectile points, a bone awl, and a notched bone tube, were examined by a team led by Michelle Langley of Australian National University. (Michelle C. Langley et al.) The researchers suggest the 13,000-year-old projectile points, which are slender and short, may have been too small to bring down the zebra, buffalo, waterbuck, common reedbuck, bushbuck, and bush pig whose bones were also found in Kuumbi Cave. Langley suggests that the projectiles were used in conjunction with poison, perhaps made from the poisonous fruit of the Mkunazi plant. (Charcoal from the Mkunazi plant was found during a previous investigation.) (Archaeology Magazine, 24/06/2016 )

Possible Homo Erectus Footprints Found in East Africa  ROME, ITALY— The Local, Italy , reports that archaeologists from Sapienza University have discovered fossilized footprints in Eritrea that may have been made by   Homo Erectus  some 800,000 years ago. The individual may have been stalking a gazelle-like animal whose footprints were also preserved in the trackway. “Their age is yet to be confirmed with certainty, but footprints will reveal a lot about the evolution of man, because they provide vital information about our ancestors’ gait and locomotion,” said lead archaeologist Alfredo Coppa. The footprints are thought to have been made along the shores of a large lake, and were probably filled with water, then eventually dried out and buried. The remains of five or six   Homo erectus  individuals have also been found in the area. For more on ancient footprints, go to " Proof in the Prints ." (resources: Archaeology Magazine, 16/06/2016) (Sapienza Unive...

Proof in the Prints  In 1976 , paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey discovered the oldest known hominin footprints. The footprints, in Laetoli, Tanzania, have been dated to around 3.66 million years ago and are thought to have been left by members of the species  Australopithecus afarensis . They consist of two parallel tracks: undisturbed prints from a single individual and a set of overlapping prints from at least two ancient primates. (Courtesy Professor Matthew Bennett, Bournemouth University) Digital models of hominin footprints In the decades since the discovery, attention has focused on the undisturbed prints, in part because the overlapping ones have been considered too fragmentary to study. Experts have estimated that the individual who left the undisturbed prints stood just over four feet, three inches, and walked at around 1.4 miles per hour. However, there has been extended debate over how efficiently this individual’s feet worked compared with those of...