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The excavation of the Matja Kuru caves near Poros
Numerous caves occur in the limestone cliffs to the north of the freshwater lake, Ira Lalaro. During 2001 an archaeological survey was carried out in this region by members of the East Timor Archaeological Project in co-operation with the community of Poros, with the assistance of Tadio Lopes.
The caves, known as Matja Kuru (cave of bats), were found. Two caves which were called Matja Kuru 1 & 2 had evidence for recent use for making sopi and as hunting shelters. The caves had deep earth floors and fragments of stone artefacts and sea shells were found on the surface showing that they had also been used as campsites in prehistoric times, before metal knives were available.
Matja Kuru 1 & 2 were excavated to see how old they were and what they could tell us about how people lived in the past.
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How old are the Matja Kuru caves?
MK2 dates to 32,200 years old at the base. This is almost as old as the Lene Hara cave near Tutuala which is 35,000 years old. Excavation stopped in the MK2 cave before reaching rock so it may be much older. In the lower levels of the excavation no pottery or metal knives were found ? only stone knives. Broken fragments of clay pot are only found in the upper units and first appear
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about 3500 years ago. A burial of a dog was found at MK2 and was dated using the bone to 2967?50 years ago. The exact time that dogs arrived in Timor is not know but they are thought to have been introduced by immigrants arriving by boat, who also introduced the idea of pottery-making and who brought the pig and a range of crops such as rice and millet.
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What people did and ate in the caves
These caves appears to have served as temporary campsites for people
exploiting the varied resources available from the lake, forests, open grasslands as well as the north coast. In the lowest levels of MK2 there are sea shells and bones of freshwater turtle, many different types of fish, marine turtles, bats, rats and birds. The cuscus, Phalanger orientalis, first appears about 9,000 years ago. This marsupial species only
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naturally occurs in Papua New Guinea and so it must have been introduced into Timor by seafarers at some time in the past. Pigs, dogs and some small species of rats appear about the same time as pottery first begins to be made and used, ca. 3500 years ago. The continuous presence of shells from the sea, throughout the sequence is of interest as these must have been carried ca. 10 km from the northern coastline.
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