Central Aceh once inhabited by prehistoric humans, archeologist

Antara News, Sunday, September 26, 2010 15:48 WIB

Takengon, Aceh Province (ANTARA News) - Two senior archeologists from Medan said Kampung Mendale area, Central Aceh district, had once inhabited by prehistoric humans.

The two archeologists Ketut Wiradnyana and Lucas Partanda Koestoro made the statement after they found some prehistoric remains such as a niche (Rock Shelter/Abris Shous Roches), a square stone axe, pottery pieces and a human skeleton in a cave near Danau Laut Tawar lake in Kampung Mendale.

"One of our latest discovery is a human skeleton which we found in Ujung Karang Kebayakan area, another excavation site near Kampung Mendale area," Ketut said here on Sunday.

However he could not yet confirm the skeleton`s exact age since excavation was still ongoing.

"In order to determine the age of these objects more accurately, they will go through a carbon dating process at the National Atomic Energy Agency (BATAN)," Ketut said.

Last May, local residents of Jayapura district, Papua province, found some prehistoric relics at two different locations.

The leader of an Archeological Institute research team, Hari Suroto, said locals who were digging in the ground at Kalkote hamlet in East Sentani district on Tuesday (April 27) came across pottery pieces now believed to date back to 1500 BC (before Christ) or the Neolithic era.

The archeological team had also established that the same type of pottery was found in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, in 1996. In fact, `Lapita` pottery was previously discovered in many places in the Pacific region and the Bismark islands, he said.

At Kwadare village in Waibu district, locals had also found a bronze axe which the archeological team believed was made in 300 BC and originally came from Dong Son, North Vietnam.

Hari said the skill of bronze axe making was brought to the northern coastal regions of Papua by people of the Austronesian race.

But the bronze axe found at Kwadare village was not handed over to the Archeological Institute but kept by the Kwadeware community`s chieftain.