During dredging operations in the Madura Strait, archaeologists found the fossilized remains of 36 vertebrate species, Leiden University said. This is the first discovery of fossils from the seabed between the Indonesian islands.
This area, called Sundaland, was once a vast lowland. Among the finds are two skull fragments of Homo erectus (140,000-year-old). Together, the finds provide a unique image of a prehistoric ecosystem and the position of Homo erectus in this ecosystem.
Fossil remains of Homo erectus have previously been found on the island of Java, the most famous of which are skulls from sites such as Trinil, Sangiran and Ngandong.
Until today, researchers thought that Homo erectus had lived for long in isolation on Java.
The new finds show that the Javanese Homo erectus dispersed over the surrounding lowlands of Sundaland during periods with lower sea levels. The species probably spread along the major rivers.
“ Here they had water, shellfish, fish, edible plants, seeds and fruit all year round ,” said Leiden archaeologist Harold Berghuis . “We already knew that Homo erectus collected river shells. Among our new finds are cut marks on the bones of water turtles and large numbers of broken bovid bones, which point to hunting and consumption of bone marrow.”
The new finds show that the Sundaland Homo erectus actively hunted healthy, strong bovids.
“ We didn’t find this in the earlier Homo erectus population on Java, but do know it from more modern human species of the Asian mainland. Homo erectus may have copied this practice from these populations. This suggests there may have been contact between these hominin groups, or even genetic exchange ,” concluded Berghuis.
The fossil collection is housed in the Geological Museum in Bandung, Indonesia. The museum is planning an exhibition, and temporary exhibitions may follow at other locations.