One Million Years of Lithics: Interpreting a Record of Change and Continuity in South Sulawesi's Lithic Technology

Yinika Perston1*, Mark Moore2, Suryatman3, Budianto Hakim4, and Adam Brumm1

The Wallacean island of Sulawesi in central Indonesia hosts a lithic record stretching back at least 1 million years, pre-dating the arrival of Homo sapiens to the region. Over this time there were clear phases of typological changes in the stone artefacts produced, culminating in a unique Mid-Holocene technoculture dubbed the ‘Toalean’ that includes backed microliths, sawlettes, and serrated points. This raises two possibilities: either that these phases are associated with new waves of people to reach the South Sulawesi, or alternatively that these are local innovations developed in relative isolation from the rest of the world. In this presentation we describe the underlying technological approaches adopted during each phase, to better understand the cultural implications of the changes and continuities in lithic production in South Sulawesi.