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Morphological analysis of teeth found at Lida Ajer shows that these belong to Homo sapiens , indicating that modern humans were in Sumatra between 73,000 and 63,000 years ago. Early modern human presence in Sumatra Genetic evidence points to the presence of modern humans in southeast Asia before 60,000 years ago, but actual fossil evidence is scant and circumstantial. Kira Westaway et al . present evidence for a modern human presence in the region between 73,000 and 63,000 years based on three dating methods applied to consolidated breccia rocks in a cave in Sumatra, Indonesia, which had previously yielded human teeth. The findings establish that modern humans were present in the region at around the time of the catastrophic eruption of Toba that took place in Sumatra around 73,000 years ago. Genetic evidence for anatomically modern humans (AMH) out of Africa before 75 thousand years ago (ka) 1 and in island southeast Asia (ISEA) before 60 ka (93–61 ka) 2 predates accepted archaeological records of occupation in the region 3 . Claims that AMH arrived in ISEA before 60 ka (ref. 4 ) have been supported only by equivocal 5 or non-skeletal evidence 6 . AMH evidence from this period is rare and lacks robust chronologies owing to a lack of direct dating applications 7 , poor preservation and/or excavation strategies 8 and questionable taxonomic identifications 9 . Lida Ajer is a Sumatran Pleistocene cave with a rich rainforest fauna associated with fossil human teeth 7 , 10 . The importance of the site is unclear owing to unsupported taxonomic identification of these fossils and uncertainties regarding the age of the deposit, therefore it is rarely considered in models of human dispersal. Here we reinvestigate Lida Ajer to identify the teeth confidently and establish a robust chronology using an integrated dating approach. Using enamel–dentine junction morphology, enamel thickness and comparative morphology, we show that the teeth are unequivocally AMH. Luminescence and uranium-series techniques applied to bone-bearing sediments and speleothems, and coupled uranium-series and electron spin resonance dating of mammalian teeth, place modern humans in Sumatra between 73 and 63 ka. This age is consistent with biostratigraphic estimations 7 , palaeoclimate and sea-level reconstructions, and genetic evidence for a pre-60 ka arrival of AMH into ISEA 2 . Lida Ajer represents, to our knowledge, the earliest evidence of rainforest occupation by AMH, and underscores the importance of reassessing the timing and environmental context of the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa.

Flores hominins multiply The discovery of a small-bodied hominin from the late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia, caused a great deal of interest. Its classification as a new species was controversial, but now there is more evidence for the endemic human species, Homo floresiensis . The remains excavated at Liang Bua on Flores include another tiny adult mandible, 15,000 years old, and the right arm bones of the original find, known as LB1. The new findings confirm the presence of a long-term dwarfed population from before 74,000 to 12,000 years ago and argue against the idea that LB1 was an individual with a growth disorder. There is also evidence for the use of fire, and butchery of the mammoth-like Stegodon . Homo floresiensis was recovered from Late Pleistocene deposits on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia, but has the stature, limb proportions and endocranial volume of African Pliocene Australopithecus 1 . The holotype of the species (LB1), excavated in 2003 from Liang Bua, consisted of a partial skeleton minus the arms. Here we describe additional H. floresiensis remains excavated from the cave in 2004. These include arm bones belonging to the holotype skeleton, a second adult mandible, and postcranial material from other individuals. We can now reconstruct the body proportions of H. floresiensis with some certainty. The finds further demonstrate that LB1 is not just an aberrant or pathological individual, but is representative of a long-term population that was present during the interval 95–74 to 12 thousand years ago. The excavation also yielded more evidence for the depositional history of the cave and for the behavioural capabilities of H. floresiensis , including the butchery of Stegodon and use of fire.

Excavations at Liang Bua, a large limestone cave on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia, have yielded evidence for a population of tiny hominins, sufficiently distinct anatomically to be assigned to a new species, Homo floresiensis 1 . The finds comprise the cranial and some post-cranial remains of one individual, as well as a premolar from another individual in older deposits. Here we describe their context, implications and the remaining archaeological uncertainties. Dating by radiocarbon ( 14 C), luminescence, uranium-series and electron spin resonance (ESR) methods indicates that H. floresiensis existed from before 38,000 years ago (kyr) until at least 18 kyr. Associated deposits contain stone artefacts and animal remains, including Komodo dragon and an endemic, dwarfed species of Stegodon . H. floresiensis originated from an early dispersal of Homo erectus (including specimens referred to as Homo ergaster and Homo georgicus ) 1 that reached Flores, and then survived on this island refuge until relatively recently. It overlapped significantly in time with Homo sapiens in the region 2 , 3 , but we do not know if or how the two species interacted.