Prehistorical relics found in Jayapura district

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - Local residents of Jayapura district, Papua, have found some prehistoric relics at two different locations.

The leader of an Archeological Institute research team , Hari Suroto, said here on Monday 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 archaelogical 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.

Besides the two relics, the archeological team had also discovered a Mesolithic cave containing tools for skinning and cutting hunted animals.

The tools were discovered in Ayapo village, East Sentani district and Baborongko, Ebungfau district, Papua, and estimated to date back to around 10,000 BC and to have belonged to people of the Austromelanesian race.

Similar tools were also found in Fak Fak, West Papua province in 1930 by researchers from the Netherlands, Hari said. (*)

Source: Antara

Posted in: Archeology Research,English