List of caves in East Timor

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The Lene Hara cave Lene Hara 4.jpg
The Lene Hara cave

A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, [1] [2] specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can also refer to much smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos, though strictly speaking a cave is exogene, meaning it is deeper than its opening is wide, [3] and a rock shelter is endogene. [4]

List of Caves in East Timor

NameLocationPictureNotes
Jerimalai near Tutuala Jerimalai is a limestone cave southeast of Tutuala, on the eastern tip of East Timor. Fish remains and fish hooks excavated in Jerimalai provide evidence for advanced fishing technique by inhabitants of Timor 42,000 years ago. [5] [6] Jerimalai has the third oldest findings discovered in Wallacea, after Madjedbebe in mainland Northern Australia and the Laili cave near Manatuto on Timor. [7]
Laili Manatuto District Laili is a limestone cave located near the town of Laleia, Manatuto District, East Timor. Archeological findings in Laili provide evidence that the cave was occupied by modern humans 44,600 years ago, making it the second oldest known such habitation in Wallacea aside from Madjedbebe in mainland Northern Australia. [8] :58 [9] [10] The age of findings made in Laili corroborates the theory that humans spread from Asia to Australia through the Southern route, via Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands. [8] [11]
Lene Hara cave Lautém District The Lena Hara cave is the main cave of a system of solutional caves in the Lautém District at the eastern tip of East Timor (Timor-Leste), close to the village of Tutuala. Others are Ile Kére Kére and Jerimalai . Lene Hara has provided evidence that Timor has been occupied by humans since at least 35,000 years BP [12] and thus is evidence that humans crossed the waters of Wallacea between the Pleistocene continents of Sunda and Sahul.

Related Research Articles

History of East Timor Account of the country of East Timor

East Timor is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania known as Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. The country comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor and the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco. The first inhabitants are thought to be descendant of Australoid and Melanesian peoples. The Portuguese began to trade with Timor by the early 16th century and colonised it throughout the mid-century. Skirmishing with the Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty for which Portugal ceded the western half of the island. Imperial Japan occupied East Timor during World War II, but Portugal resumed colonial authority after the Japanese surrender.

Wallacea Biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves

Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and many smaller islands. The islands of Wallacea lie between the Sunda Shelf to the west, and the Sahul Shelf including Australia and New Guinea to the south and east. The total land area of Wallacea is 347,000 km2 (134,000 sq mi).

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Qesem cave

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Tutuala Suco and town in Lautém District, East Timor

Tutuala is a village and suco in the subdistrict of Tutuala. It is situated at the extreme eastern end of Timor. Its population at the 2004 census was 3,707. The subdistrict of Tutuala comprises two sucos, including Mehara and Tutuala with the subdistrict administrator residing in Tutuala. The suco of Tutuala comprised four hamlets (aldeia): Ioro, Pitileti, Tchailoro, and Vero. The main Fataluku language areas of the country are in Tutuala, as well as Lautem and Fuiloro.

Lene Hara cave Cave and archaeological site in East Timor

The Lena Hara cave is the main cave of a system of solutional caves in the Lautém District at the eastern tip of East Timor (Timor-Leste), close to the village of Tutuala. Others are Ile Kére Kére and Jerimalai. Lene Hara has provided evidence that Timor has been occupied by humans since at least 35,000 years BP and thus is evidence that humans crossed the waters of Wallacea between the Pleistocene continents of Sunda and Sahul.

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Ngalue

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Neanderthals in Southwest Asia Neanderthals who lived in Turkey, the Levant, Iraq, and Iran

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Jerimalai (cave) Cave and archaeological site in East Timor

Jerimalai is a limestone cave southeast of Tutuala, on the eastern tip of East Timor. Fish remains and fish hooks excavated in Jerimalai provide evidence for advanced fishing technique by inhabitants of Timor 42,000 years ago.

Laili (cave) Cave and archaeological site in East Timor

Laili is a limestone cave located near the town of Laleia, Manatuto District, East Timor. Archeological findings in Laili provide evidence that the cave was occupied by modern humans 44,600 years ago, making it the second oldest known such habitation in Wallacea aside from Madjedbebe in mainland Northern Australia.

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References

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  2. "Cave" Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) © Oxford University Press 2009
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  4. Lowe, J. John; Walker, Michael J. C. (2014). Reconstructing Quaternary Environments. Routledge. pp. 141–42. ISBN   9781317753711.
  5. Langley, Michelle C.; O'Connor, Sue; Piotto, Elena (August 2016). "42,000-year-old worked and pigment-stained Nautilus shell from Jerimalai (Timor-Leste): Evidence for an early coastal adaptation in ISEA". Journal of Human Evolution. 97: 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.04.005. PMID   27457541.
  6. "ANU Center for Archaeological Research News". Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  7. Hawkins, Stuart; O'Connor, Sue; Maloney, Tim; Litster, Mirani; Kealy, Shimona; N. Fenner, Jack; Aplin, Ken; Boulanger, Clara; Brockwell, Sally; Willan, Richard; Piotto, Elena; Louys, Julien (1 September 2017). "Oldest human occupation of Wallacea at Laili Cave, Timor-Leste, shows broad-spectrum foraging responses to late Pleistocene environments". Quaternary Science Reviews. 171: 58–72. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.07.008 .
  8. 1 2 Hawkins, Stuart; O'Connor, Sue; Maloney, Tim Ryan; Litster, Mirani; Kealy, Shimona; Fenner, Jack N.; Aplin, Ken; Boulanger, Clara; Brockwell, Sally; Willan, Richard; Piotto, Elena; Louys, Julien (September 2017). "Oldest human occupation of Wallacea at Laili Cave, Timor-Leste, shows broad-spectrum foraging responses to late Pleistocene environments". Quaternary Science Reviews. 171: 58–72. Bibcode:2017QSRv..171...58H. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.07.008 .
  9. Langley, Michelle C.; O'Connor, Sue; Piotto, Elena (August 2016). "42,000-year-old worked and pigment-stained Nautilus shell from Jerimalai (Timor-Leste): Evidence for an early coastal adaptation in ISEA". Journal of Human Evolution. 97: 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.04.005. PMID   27457541.
  10. O’Connor, Sue; Barham, Anthony; Spriggs, Matthew; Veth, Peter; Aplin, Ken; St Pierre, Emma (17 March 2016). "Cave Archaeology and Sampling Issues in the Tropics: A Case Study from Lene Hara Cave, a 42,000 Year Old Occupation Site in East Timor, Island Southeast Asia". Australian Archaeology. 71 (1): 29–40. doi:10.1080/03122417.2010.11689382.
  11. O'Connor, Sue (2 January 2015). "New evidence from East Timor contributes to our understanding of earliest modern human colonisation east of the Sunda Shelf". Antiquity. 81 (313): 523–535. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00095569. hdl: 1885/36573 .
  12. O'Connor, Sue; Spriggs, Matthew; Veth, Peter (2002). "Excavation at Lene Hara Cave establishes occupation in East Timor at least 30,000–35,000 years ago". Antiquity. 76 (291): 45–49. doi:10.1017/S0003598X0008978X. ISSN   0003-598X. S2CID   163141684.