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The resource-poor, isolated islands of Wallacea have been considered a major adaptive obstacle for hominins expanding into Australasia. Archaeological evidence has hinted that coastal adaptations in Homo sapiens enabled rapid island dispersal and settlement; however, there has been no means to directly test this proposition. Here, we apply stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to human and faunal tooth enamel from six Late Pleistocene to Holocene archaeological sites across Wallacea. The results demonstrate that the earliest human forager found in the region c. 42,000 years ago made significant use of coastal resources prior to subsequent niche diversification shown for later individuals. We argue that our data provides clear insights into the huge adaptive flexibility of our species, including its ability to specialize in the use of varied environments, particularly in comparison to other hominin species known from Island Southeast Asia. There has been substantial debate of how hominins colonized Australasia through Wallacea, including their ability to utilize marine vs. terrestrial resources. Here, Roberts et al. use stable carbon and oxygen isotopes to reconstruct temporal shifts in the diets of early human inhabitants of Alor and Timor. Ajuts: For permission to conduct fieldwork, we thank the Secretaria do Estado da Arte e Cultura, Timor-Leste, and the Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (RISTEK) Foreign Research Permit Division (S.O'.C. 1172/FRP/E5/Dit.KI/V/ 2016). This project was funded by the Max Planck Society, a European Research Council Starter Grant awarded to P.R. (no. 850709), an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship awarded to S.O'.C. (FL120100156), and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CE170100015). We would like to thank the landowners and villagers of Alor and Timor-Leste, staff and students from the Universitas Gadja Mada, Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional, and Balai Arkeologi Bali for their assistance in the field. We also thank CartoGIS ANU for their assistance.

Interference from the matrix sample can influence of the accurate analytical method. Accelerated Solvent Extraction and their purification methods were tried to separate the organic micropollutants respectively in marine sediment. Those matrix were as organic pollutants evaluation in marine environment. Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are two examples organic pollutant in environment which are carcinogenic and mutagenic. Marine sediments are important matrices of information regarding the human activities in coastal areas as well as the fate and behavior of organic pollutants, which are persistent in long-term. This research purpose to evaluate the matrice effect and the recovery from marine sediment spiking with several standar solution and deuterium of molecular target from organic pollutants in not polluted sample of sediment. Matrice samples was tested from indicate in unpolluted location. The methods were evaluated with standard calibration curve (linearity LOQ). Recovery (YE) relative, Matrice Effect (ME) relative correction with deuteriated standar were evaluated the interference the matrix. Interference effect for OCPs compounds were higher than PCBs in marine sediment.

Abstract. The Spermonde Archipelago, off the coast of southwest Sulawesi, consists of more than 100 small islands and hundreds of shallow-water reef areas. Most of the islands are bordered by coral reefs that grew in the past in response to paleo relative sea-level changes. Remnants of these reefs are preserved today in the form of fossil microatolls. In this study, we report the elevation, age, and paleo relative sea-level estimates derived from fossil microatolls surveyed in five islands of the Spermonde Archipelago. We describe 24 new sea-level index points, and we compare our dataset with both previously published proxies and with relative sea-level predictions from a set of 54 glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models, using different assumptions on both ice melting histories and mantle structure and viscosity. We use our new data and models to discuss Late Holocene (0–6 ka) relative sea-level changes in our study area and their implications in terms of modern relative sea-level estimates in the broader South and Southeast Asia region.

International audience; We report archaeological findings from a significant new cave site on Alor Island, Indonesia, with an in situ basal date of 40,208-38,454 cal BP. Twenty thousand years older than the earliest Pleistocene site previously known from this island, Makpan retains dense midden deposits of marine shell, fish bone, urchin and crab remains, but few terrestrial species; demonstrating that protein requirements over this time were met almost exclusively from the sea. The dates for initial occupation at Makpan indicate that once Homo sapiens moved into southern Wallacea, settlement of the larger islands in the archipelago occurred rapidly. However, the Makpan sequence also suggests that the use of the cave following initial human arrival was sporadic prior to the terminal Pleistocene about 14,000 years ago, when occupation became intensive, culminating in the formation of a midden. Like the coastal sites on the larger neighbouring island of Timor, the Makpan assemblage shows that maritime technology in the Pleistocene was highly developed in this region. The Makpan assemblage also contains a range of distinctive personal ornaments made on Nautilus shell, which are shared with sites located on Timor and Kisar supporting connectivity between islands from at least the terminal Pleistocene. Makpan's early inhabitants responded to sea-level change by altering the way they used both the site and local resources. Marine food exploitation shows an initial emphasis on sea-urchins, followed by a subsistence switch to molluscs, barnacles, and fish in the dense middle part of the sequence, with crabs well represented in the later occupation. This new record provides further insights into early modern human movements and patterns of occupation between the islands of eastern Nusa Tenggara from ca. 40 ka

The Nanggulan section in south central Java comprises open marine sediments and volcanic deposits of Eocene–Oligocene age that accumulated in a marginal basin within the young Sunda Arc complex. A new borehole captures the stratigraphy and showcases the exceptional preservation of calcareous microfossils across an apparently complete Eocene–Oligocene Transition (EOT), a time interval significant for the initiation of continental-scale glaciation on Antarctica. Low-resolution benthic and planktonic foraminifera oxygen and carbon stable isotopes (δ18O and δ13C) record increasing δ18O and δ13C in the basal Oligocene, allowing correlation to global records. Isotopic values imply warm temperatures and relatively high nutrients along the SE Java margin. The Nanggulan EOT is a valuable archive for reconstructing ocean–climate behaviour and plankton evolution and extinction in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. The borehole also adds to understanding of the early stages of Sunda Arc volcanism. Supplementary material: Supplementary figures, tables and appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5429453

The occupation of small islands presents particular challenges for people largely related to limited terrestrial resources and susceptibility to natural disasters. Nevertheless, the challenges and ...

Abstract Lake Towuti on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, is located within the heart of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. This tropical lake is surrounded by ultramafic (ophiolitic) rocks and lateritic soils that create a unique ferruginous depositional setting. In order to understand modern sediment deposition in Lake Towuti, a set of 84 lake surface sediment samples was collected from across the entirety of the lake and samples were analyzed for their physical, chemical, mineralogical and biological constituents. End-member analyses were carried out to elucidate modern sediment origin, transport and depositional processes. This study found that allochthonous sediment, characterized by the concentrations of the elements Mg, Fe, Si and Al, as well as the clay and serpentine minerals, is dominated by fluvial supply from five distinct source areas. Granulometric data and the occurrence of organic matter of terrestrial origin suggest that in the southern and north-eastern parts of the lake the near-shore sediments may additionally be influenced by mass wasting. This at least is partly due to the particularly steep slopes in these areas. Furthermore, sediment composition suggests that sediment transport into deeper parts of the lake, particularly in the northern basin, is partly controlled by gravitational and density-driven processes such as turbidity currents. Directional sediment transport by persistent lake currents, in contrast, appears less important. Organic matter deposition in the ultra-oligotrophic lake, albeit limited, is dominated by autochthonous production, but with some contribution of fluvial and gravitational supply. Biogenic silica deposition, primarily from diatom frustules and sponge spicules, is very limited and is concentrated in only a few areas close to the shoreline that are characterized by shallow waters, but away from the areas of high suspension loads at the mouths of the major inlets. The results of this study build upon current and published work on short piston cores from Lake Towuti. Conversely, the results will support the interpretation of the depositional history and past climatic and environmental conditions derived from the composition of much longer records, which were obtained by the Towuti Drilling Project in May 2015 and are currently under investigation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

International audience; The major climatic oscillations during the Quaternary Period significantly influenced the evolution and distribution of ancient and modern coastal systems. Here we investigate the morphology and sedimentary infilling of submerged Late Quaternary incised valleys along the northern coast of Java Island (Indonesia) using high-resolution geophysical, sedimentological and geochronological data. Our results indicate that the spatial development and morphology of the incised valleys are predominantly controlled by Quaternary glacial–interglacial eustatic fluctuations, within a marked subsiding setting. The valleys were incised during prominent Quaternary lowstands and most of the valley fill was emplaced during the last postglacial sea level rise. The valley fill forms a transgressive succession, consisting mainly of fluvial deposits at the base (possibly amalgamated from older sequences) overlain by shallow marine sediments and capped by hemipelagic deposits. The valley-fill architecture is strongly dependent on the valley morphology (depth of incision, width of the valleys, and extent of the intertidal zone). The shallow marine deposits contained within the narrow and linear valleys are mostly aggrading muds. The vertical incision and valley formation was chiefly controlled by the extent of glacial sea-level fluctuations. The studied sections represent the continental-offshore extension of a paleodeltaic system. The implication of our work is that even in predominantly enclosed shallow marine systems that are located distal to the shelf break, the response of the sedimentary system and ensuing stratigraphic configuration can be effectively impacted by the rapid and abrupt Quaternary global climatic transition and eustatic sea-level fluctuations.