STONE TECHNOLOGY AND THE CHRONOLOGY OF HUMAN OCCUPATION ON ROTE, SAWU AND TIMOR, NUSA TENGGARA TIMUR, INDONESIA

Abstract

Some characteristics of stone technology in the three outer arc islands of Nusa Tenggara during several phases of human occupation are examined. The data derive mainly from the results of my excavations on Rote and Sawu, that are compared with the results of earlier excavations in East Timor by Ian Glover. There is an indication that stone technology in the region changed entering the last glacial maximum, as indicated by the disappearance of large tools with Hoabinhnian-like technologies. But the sample is very minimal for statistical testing. There are also lithic technological changes after the Mid-Holocene.