Reconstruction of Human Impact on Environment through Micro-Plant Remains from the Palemba Site, Karama Valley, West Sulawesi

M. Dziyaul F. Arrozain1* and Anggraeni2

The inland part of the Karama Valley, West Sulawesi, provides good evidence for reconstructing continuity of human occupation from the Neolithic to the Palaeometallic (~1500 BC-400 AD). Understanding cultural continuity is critical to Indonesian Archaeology and, by extension, Southeast Asian Archaeology. It bridges the gap between the region’s ancient past and its contemporary identity. With Palemba standing out as a key settlement tied to Paleometallic societies, we present the results of microbotanical analyses from site with the aim of reconstructing the impacts of human occupation on environment. Here, phytolith and starch analyses, accompanied by other microfossils from excavated sediments, demonstrate the presence of an open forest from ~700 BC–400 AD and dense forest vegetation soon after, with a greater variety of plant biodiversity, including rice, banana, taro, and sago during peak human occupation ~200–400 AD. These results suggest that agriculture developed in Palemba, continuing since the presence of Austronesian speakers in the Karama Valley (~1500 BC), which brought Neolithic culture, and that human settlements needed to develop additional plant food sources sometime after (~200 AD). The increase in dense forest vegetation, however, suggests a decline in occupation intensity after 400 AD, with more intense occupation of the area only picking up in recent years with grain agriculture (cornfield). While our analyses have yielded data clarifying cultural continuity, our methodology presented challenges and required adaptation to the local conditions. We discuss these issues and our innovations here, with the hope that better protocols will be developed for microarchaeological investigations in Indonesia and the broader Southeast Asian region.