Mollusc Diversity from the Prehistory Context of Kompleks Ceruk Pajangan Archaeological Site (Java, Indonesia)

Hari Wibowo; Restu Budi Sulistiyo; Daud Aris Tanudirjo; Sofwan Noerwidi; Cahyo Rahmadi

doi:10.22146/jtbb.15985

Hari Wibowo Doctoral Program on Humanities, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Nusantara No. 1, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta, 55281; Research Center for Archaeometry, National Research and Innovation Agency, Sasana Widya Graha Building – 7th Floor, Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto St., No. 10, Jakarta Selatan 12710 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8901-4684
Restu Budi Sulistiyo Research Center for Archaeometry, National Research and Innovation Agency, Sasana Widya Graha Building – 7th Floor, Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto St., No. 10, Jakarta Selatan 12710; Magister of Biology Education, Post Graduate Program, Lambung Mangkurat University, Brigjen H. Hasan Basry St., Banjarmasin, Kalimantan Selatan, 70123; Indonesian Malacological Society, Bogor, Jawa Barat https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5557-1164
Daud Aris Tanudirjo Doctoral Program on Humanities, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Nusantara No. 1, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta, 55281
Sofwan Noerwidi Research Center for Archaeometry, National Research and Innovation Agency, Sasana Widya Graha Building – 7th Floor, Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto St., No. 10, Jakarta Selatan 12710 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2098-8496
Cahyo Rahmadi Research Center for Biosystematics and Evolution, BRIN, Gd. Widyasatwaloka, Jl. Raya Jakarta-Bogor Km. 46, Cibinong, Bogor, Jawa Barat 16911 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5928-9513

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/jtbb.15985

Keywords: Biodiversity, Early Holocene, Ecofact, Mollusc, Palaeoenvironment, Prehistory, Subsistence

Abstract

Mollusc shells from prehistoric sites in a karst region offer insights into past biodiversity, human survival strategies, and the environments where they lived. This article covers mollusc study results from Kompleks Ceruk Pajangan that have not been studied before. In this study, we determine which species were exploited by the human inhabitants, and assess their palaeoenvironmental conditions. The study identified 3378 mollusc specimens across 16 families and 25 species, including 8 species from 5 families of bivalves, and 17 species from 11 families of gastropods. Kompleks Ceruk Pajangan exhibited low mollusc diversity and evenness, indicating human preference on how these molluscs were collected and discarded in the past. Rather than randomly, they were collected as food sources and these low indices reflect the site inhabitants’ preferences towards freshwater molluscs. Additionally, a significant presence of molluscs from marine/estuarine habitats suggests that this site, 6000-8000 years ago, was much closer to the coastal area than at present.

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