I have been a geoarchaeologist and Research Fellow at University of Texas at Austin for the last 20 years, and this followed decades of previous experience in other areas of geology.
Late Miocene strata occur on both sides of the San Andreas fault for several hundred miles in cen... more Late Miocene strata occur on both sides of the San Andreas fault for several hundred miles in central California. The unlike facies and contrasting paleogeographic situations which are found across the fault along much of this distance must have been brought together by ...
"ABSTRACT The Homo erectus fossil discoveries of eastern Java record more than a million yea... more "ABSTRACT The Homo erectus fossil discoveries of eastern Java record more than a million years of life and death along large rivers draining stratovolcanoes, a setting similar to present day. Andesitic conglomerate and sandstone dominate the Homo erectus-bearing formations and make up well-known discovery deposits at Ngandong, Mojokerto, Sangiran Dome and Trinil. The Homo erectus stratovolcanoes, judging from those in modern Java, supported montane forests and perennial river flow by concentrating rainfall orographically and produced pyroclastic eruptions and volcaniclastic sedimentary pulses, including long-run-out lahars (LLs). LLs originate as debris flows and extend 15-120+ km downriver as slurries and sandy-gravelly floods. The Ngandong Homo erectus bonebed evidently was deposited by an LL flood along the middle reach of Java's largest river, the Solo, ~50 km from a volcano, following mass death in a population aggregation of large mammals. Similarly, the Trinil bonebed probably originated as an LL descending a forested volcano into wet lowlands. The Mojokerto deposit, situated more distally in a coastal paleogeographic location, formed as a fluvial-gravel bar in the river-dominated delta where the ancestral Brantas River, subject to LLs, entered the sea ~100 km from the source stratovolcano. Most Sangiran contexts likewise occur in fluvial volcaniclastic facies. Cattle, deer, Stegodon and other large-bodied herbivores--found as transported bioclasts at the sites--inhabited the river drainages with Homo erectus. The paleoenvironment of the Java discovery district, comprising <1% of the total land area of Indonesia, was especially favorable to Homo erectus occupation and fossilization. Aquatic-, forest- and large-mammal dietary resources, present along stratovolcanic rivers, evidently sustained recurring or continuing Homo erectus habitation, while rapid volcaniclastic deposition, at times following eruption-related death, promoted preservation of skeletal remains. "
The scientific utility of Eugène Dubois' Pithecanthropus erectus (P.e.) Skullcap (Trinil 1), ... more The scientific utility of Eugène Dubois' Pithecanthropus erectus (P.e.) Skullcap (Trinil 1), Femur I (Trinil 3) and associated paleontological specimens has been impaired for over a century by questions about their provenience. Firsthand accounts and contemporaneous field photographs, presented here, extensively document the site geology and discovery history. The P.e. specimens and numerous-other fossils were unearthed in 1891- 1893 from small excavations dug into a flat-lying bonebed exposed near the seasonal low water level of the Solo River along its incised left embankment. Dubois' on-site supervisors specified that the two P.e. fossils came from a ~0.2-m-thick bonebed subunit traced at a single elevation for ~12m from the 1891 Skullcap pit (~30m 2 ) to the 1892 Femur-discovery excavation and across an enlarged 1892-1893 trench (~170m 2 ). The depositional co-occurrence of the finds is supported by key documentation: the supervisors' letters to Dubois about Femur I;...
"ABSTRACT The Homo erectus fossil discoveries of eastern Java record more than a million yea... more "ABSTRACT The Homo erectus fossil discoveries of eastern Java record more than a million years of life and death along large rivers draining stratovolcanoes, a setting similar to present day. Andesitic conglomerate and sandstone dominate the Homo erectus-bearing formations and make up well-known discovery deposits at Ngandong, Mojokerto, Sangiran Dome and Trinil. The Homo erectus stratovolcanoes, judging from those in modern Java, supported montane forests and perennial river flow by concentrating rainfall orographically and produced pyroclastic eruptions and volcaniclastic sedimentary pulses, including long-run-out lahars (LLs). LLs originate as debris flows and extend 15-120+ km downriver as slurries and sandy-gravelly floods. The Ngandong Homo erectus bonebed evidently was deposited by an LL flood along the middle reach of Java's largest river, the Solo, ~50 km from a volcano, following mass death in a population aggregation of large mammals. Similarly, the Trinil bonebed probably originated as an LL descending a forested volcano into wet lowlands. The Mojokerto deposit, situated more distally in a coastal paleogeographic location, formed as a fluvial-gravel bar in the river-dominated delta where the ancestral Brantas River, subject to LLs, entered the sea ~100 km from the source stratovolcano. Most Sangiran contexts likewise occur in fluvial volcaniclastic facies. Cattle, deer, Stegodon and other large-bodied herbivores--found as transported bioclasts at the sites--inhabited the river drainages with Homo erectus. The paleoenvironment of the Java discovery district, comprising <1% of the total land area of Indonesia, was especially favorable to Homo erectus occupation and fossilization. Aquatic-, forest- and large-mammal dietary resources, present along stratovolcanic rivers, evidently sustained recurring or continuing Homo erectus habitation, while rapid volcaniclastic deposition, at times following eruption-related death, promoted preservation of skeletal remains. "
Late Miocene strata occur on both sides of the San Andreas fault for several hundred miles in cen... more Late Miocene strata occur on both sides of the San Andreas fault for several hundred miles in central California. The unlike facies and contrasting paleogeographic situations which are found across the fault along much of this distance must have been brought together by ...
"ABSTRACT The Homo erectus fossil discoveries of eastern Java record more than a million yea... more "ABSTRACT The Homo erectus fossil discoveries of eastern Java record more than a million years of life and death along large rivers draining stratovolcanoes, a setting similar to present day. Andesitic conglomerate and sandstone dominate the Homo erectus-bearing formations and make up well-known discovery deposits at Ngandong, Mojokerto, Sangiran Dome and Trinil. The Homo erectus stratovolcanoes, judging from those in modern Java, supported montane forests and perennial river flow by concentrating rainfall orographically and produced pyroclastic eruptions and volcaniclastic sedimentary pulses, including long-run-out lahars (LLs). LLs originate as debris flows and extend 15-120+ km downriver as slurries and sandy-gravelly floods. The Ngandong Homo erectus bonebed evidently was deposited by an LL flood along the middle reach of Java's largest river, the Solo, ~50 km from a volcano, following mass death in a population aggregation of large mammals. Similarly, the Trinil bonebed probably originated as an LL descending a forested volcano into wet lowlands. The Mojokerto deposit, situated more distally in a coastal paleogeographic location, formed as a fluvial-gravel bar in the river-dominated delta where the ancestral Brantas River, subject to LLs, entered the sea ~100 km from the source stratovolcano. Most Sangiran contexts likewise occur in fluvial volcaniclastic facies. Cattle, deer, Stegodon and other large-bodied herbivores--found as transported bioclasts at the sites--inhabited the river drainages with Homo erectus. The paleoenvironment of the Java discovery district, comprising <1% of the total land area of Indonesia, was especially favorable to Homo erectus occupation and fossilization. Aquatic-, forest- and large-mammal dietary resources, present along stratovolcanic rivers, evidently sustained recurring or continuing Homo erectus habitation, while rapid volcaniclastic deposition, at times following eruption-related death, promoted preservation of skeletal remains. "
The scientific utility of Eugène Dubois' Pithecanthropus erectus (P.e.) Skullcap (Trinil 1), ... more The scientific utility of Eugène Dubois' Pithecanthropus erectus (P.e.) Skullcap (Trinil 1), Femur I (Trinil 3) and associated paleontological specimens has been impaired for over a century by questions about their provenience. Firsthand accounts and contemporaneous field photographs, presented here, extensively document the site geology and discovery history. The P.e. specimens and numerous-other fossils were unearthed in 1891- 1893 from small excavations dug into a flat-lying bonebed exposed near the seasonal low water level of the Solo River along its incised left embankment. Dubois' on-site supervisors specified that the two P.e. fossils came from a ~0.2-m-thick bonebed subunit traced at a single elevation for ~12m from the 1891 Skullcap pit (~30m 2 ) to the 1892 Femur-discovery excavation and across an enlarged 1892-1893 trench (~170m 2 ). The depositional co-occurrence of the finds is supported by key documentation: the supervisors' letters to Dubois about Femur I;...
"ABSTRACT The Homo erectus fossil discoveries of eastern Java record more than a million yea... more "ABSTRACT The Homo erectus fossil discoveries of eastern Java record more than a million years of life and death along large rivers draining stratovolcanoes, a setting similar to present day. Andesitic conglomerate and sandstone dominate the Homo erectus-bearing formations and make up well-known discovery deposits at Ngandong, Mojokerto, Sangiran Dome and Trinil. The Homo erectus stratovolcanoes, judging from those in modern Java, supported montane forests and perennial river flow by concentrating rainfall orographically and produced pyroclastic eruptions and volcaniclastic sedimentary pulses, including long-run-out lahars (LLs). LLs originate as debris flows and extend 15-120+ km downriver as slurries and sandy-gravelly floods. The Ngandong Homo erectus bonebed evidently was deposited by an LL flood along the middle reach of Java's largest river, the Solo, ~50 km from a volcano, following mass death in a population aggregation of large mammals. Similarly, the Trinil bonebed probably originated as an LL descending a forested volcano into wet lowlands. The Mojokerto deposit, situated more distally in a coastal paleogeographic location, formed as a fluvial-gravel bar in the river-dominated delta where the ancestral Brantas River, subject to LLs, entered the sea ~100 km from the source stratovolcano. Most Sangiran contexts likewise occur in fluvial volcaniclastic facies. Cattle, deer, Stegodon and other large-bodied herbivores--found as transported bioclasts at the sites--inhabited the river drainages with Homo erectus. The paleoenvironment of the Java discovery district, comprising <1% of the total land area of Indonesia, was especially favorable to Homo erectus occupation and fossilization. Aquatic-, forest- and large-mammal dietary resources, present along stratovolcanic rivers, evidently sustained recurring or continuing Homo erectus habitation, while rapid volcaniclastic deposition, at times following eruption-related death, promoted preservation of skeletal remains. "
The Indonesian site of Trinil, located along today’s Solo River in eastern Java, marks the place ... more The Indonesian site of Trinil, located along today’s Solo River in eastern Java, marks the place where in 1891 Eugene Dubois discovered the first Homo erectus fossils. Although tens-of-thousands of other vertebrate and invertebrate fossils were recovered from this meter-thick conglomeratic bonebed, earlier studies of the non-hominin material focused on the taxonomy and biostratigraphy. Despite the importance that the discoveries at Trinil have had in documenting the presence of Homo erectus in Java, no detailed taphonomic analysis of the collection has been conducted to address the formation of the site, including possible involvement of Homo erectus in site generation. Collections from excavations at Trinil are mostly housed in two places, reflecting both Dubois’ initial work at the site (1891-1900), and the Selenka Expedition’s subsequent excavation (1906-1908): the Dubois collection in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden and the bulk of the Selenka collection in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. The Dubois collection is much larger and has over 4000 cataloged specimens. The smaller Selenka collection has an additional almost 1400 specimens. Our investigation of the material has been limited with two week’s analysis in Leiden and a week in Berlin. In order to develop a systematic overview of the assemblage in a limited amount of time, we have used a multi-level approach to faunal coding. First, we have done comprehensive taphonomic analysis (including attributes such as weathering, abrasion, breakage, biological damage, general surface visibility, adhering or in-filling matrix, bone surface color, fracture surface color, maximum length, width, and thickness) on a single skeletal element (humeri) for all species. A total of 243 specimens (4.4% of the combined assemblage) have been given this full coding. In addition we have done a more rapid scan of cervid and bovid bones, which make up the bulk of the assemblage, and while coding basic attributes of skeletal element, portion, segment, side, and skeletal age class, we also looked for distinctive surface modification attributes. This basic coding has been completed for 3736 specimens (68.1% if the combined assemblage). Information in this poster is an overview of the results of both the full and basic coding.
ABSTRACT
Trinil’s Main Bonebed (MB; Hauptknochenschicht), the 1891-1892 Homo erectus (H.e.) disc... more ABSTRACT Trinil’s Main Bonebed (MB; Hauptknochenschicht), the 1891-1892 Homo erectus (H.e.) discovery context [text panel, left], is still central to understanding hominin paleobiogeography in Sundaland. The MB was mostly well-lithified, volcaniclastic, very poorly sorted sandstone and pebbly conglomerate of fluvial origin, as remnant outcrops help establish [G and H]. The stratum produced thousands of well-preserved, disarticulated skeletal bioclasts [J]. Many were greatly oversized relative to lithic components [D to J]. The taphonomy, lithology and setting indicate accumulation in a lowland river during long-runout-lahar flooding. This followed mass deaths in the drainages of a high-standing, active stratovolcano [J]. Small-sized (Axis) deer, large-bodied bovids (Bibos; Bubalus), Stegodon and the tiny boselaphine Duboisia were most abundant as fossils [I]. Crocodylians, turtles, pig and rhinoceros were common. Other documented MB remains were tiger, muntjac, macaque, porcupine, river-fishes and -mollusks, and trees and sedges. Trinil specimens of dog, leopard cat, langur, gibbon, lizard, python, rat and birds are credible additional MB components. Femur I is a reasonably uncontestable MB discovery (as II, III and IV probably are), based on firsthand accounts and site geology [A to E]. Mussel shells from Trinil* reveal possible H.e. use, but no lithic artifacts or hominin-damaged bones have been identified. The diversity of taxa in the MB is greater than in any other individual H.e.-discovery bed. The MB fauna anchors Java’s long-lasting Stegodon-Homo erectus (land-vertebrate) bio-stratigraphic sequence (S.-H.e.). H.e. was secure enough ecologically to withstand the associated Siva-Malayan large-mammal immigrations, endemic faunal developments, and glacioeustatic changes of the Early and Middle Pleistocene [K to L]. Certain S.-H.e. species went extinct, but relatives of others (e.g., MB cervids, large bovids, rhinoceros, pig, primates, tiger, turtles, crocodile, fishes and mollusks) survived into the Late Pleistocene-Holocene, when they occupied dispersed parts of the region extending from Java to Indochina. These biogeographic patterns support the proposition that S.-H.e.-like ecological communities, hominins included, were broadly present across Sundaland in the time of H.e. [A through L refer to other panels; * correction]
DISCOVERY of the Skullcap and Femur I The finds were made while excavating flat-lying bedrock along the south shore of the Solo River during low-water periods of 1891-1892 [A B]. The Skullcap was discovered beneath an ~40 m2 natural MB outcrop ~6 weeks into the 1891 season [C D]. The next year, bedrock above the MB had to be removed to access more of the bed, which produced a “harvest of bones” when exposed at the end of June. A. de Winter, one of two dig supervisors, found Femur I in August. He remembered seeing Stegodon fossils near the find and losing femoral fragments while handling the specimen at the excavation. The supervisors’ letters indicate that Femur I originated from the same ~20-cm stratigraphic concentration of fossils that had produced the Skullcap 12 m away [A B, above; PFZ in E, below]. Dubois visited Trinil in late July, returned in September, and never expressed doubt about the Skullcap and Femur I originating from one deposit. When the high bank south of the femur spot was dug away later in 1892, ~9 m of hard bedrock had to be removed to reach the MB [E]. The resulting 25-m-long back wall linked the 1891 and 1892 discovery points. In 1893 and 1896-1900, the crew continued removing the largely unfossiliferous bank to mine MB fossils near the seasonal low-water levels [E and F], substantiating Dubois’ published portrayal of the site geology. The Selenka Expedition excavated next to the 1900 trench during 1907-1908, further confirming the concentration of vertebrate bioclasts in the MB at the site. [see also Huffman et al. 2015]
Duyfjes (1936) has been cited in the literature for decades. However, his back-up reporting with ... more Duyfjes (1936) has been cited in the literature for decades. However, his back-up reporting with field observations and geological maps has remained only partially available to researchers. Duyfjes’ materials contain descriptions of the Kendeng area stratigraphic units that are often more detailed than in any other source. To expand access to these resources, translations of Duyfjes (1936) and several related unpublished reports are presented here, together with selected interpretative summaries produced by the Huffman and his co-workers in the last twenty years (translation of other Duyfjes work is available from Huffman upon request). See Huffman et al. 2005 and Huffman 2001 (references on page 16) for additional background on Duyfjes and various individuals he referenced in 1936. Huffman considers Duyfjes’ unpublished work, available at the Geological Library, Bandung, and Naturalis, Leiden, to be essential sources of field observation for contemporaneous research. Huffman’s| long-term collaboration with Yadhi Zaim and associates, as recounted in Huffman 2001, Huffman and Zaim 2003, Huffman et al. 2005, 2006, Morley et al. 2020 and Rizal et al. 2020, is gratefully acknowledged. Appreciation is also extended to P.C.H. Albers.
CITATION OF PRINCIPAL ARTICLE: Duyfjes, J. 1936. Zur Geologie und Stratigraphie des Kendenggebietes zwischen Trinil und Soerabaja (Java) [On the Geology and Stratigraphy of the Kendeng Hills between Trinil and Surabaya (Java)]. De Ingenieur in Nederlandsch-Indië, IV. Mijbouw & Geologie, De Mijningenieur Jaargang. III (8/August), 136-149
Cite as: Berkhout, A.W. J., and Huffman, O.F. 2021 (unpublished). Translations from the reports o... more Cite as: Berkhout, A.W. J., and Huffman, O.F. 2021 (unpublished). Translations from the reports on the Selenka Expedition in Selenka and Blanckenhorn (1911): Die Pithecanthropus Schichten auf Java: Geologische und Paläeontologische Ergebnisse der Trinil-Expedition (1907 und 1908). 228 pages.
The translation served in part as source material for:
Huffman, O.F., P.C.H. Albers, A.W. Berkhout, J. de Vos. 2015. Did Trinil Femur I originate from a younger formation than the Homo erectus skullcap? Implications of early site photographs and other provenience records. Paleoanthropology Society Meeting Abstracts, San Francisco, CA, 14-15 April 2015" PaleoAnthropology 2015: A15 (Poster). http://www.paleoanthro.org/media/meetings/files/Huffman et.al. 2015.pdf http://www.paleoanthro.org/media/journal/content/PAS2015A.pdf
Huffman, O.F. , Paul C.H. Albers, A. W. Berkhout, J. de Vos. 2018. Trinil’s Main Bonebed (Java) and Homo erectus paleobiogeography. Paleoanthropology Society, April 10-11, 2018, Meeting (Austin, Texas) [Poster].
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Papers by Frank Huffman
In order to develop a systematic overview of the assemblage in a limited amount of time, we have used a multi-level approach to faunal coding. First, we have done comprehensive taphonomic analysis (including attributes such as weathering, abrasion, breakage, biological damage, general surface visibility, adhering or in-filling matrix, bone surface color, fracture surface color, maximum length, width, and thickness) on a single skeletal element (humeri) for all species. A total of 243 specimens (4.4% of the combined assemblage) have been given this full coding. In addition we have done a more rapid scan of cervid and bovid bones, which make up the bulk of the assemblage, and while coding basic attributes of skeletal element, portion, segment, side, and skeletal age class, we also looked for distinctive surface modification attributes. This basic coding has been completed for 3736 specimens (68.1% if the combined assemblage). Information in this poster is an overview of the results of both the full and basic coding.
Trinil’s Main Bonebed (MB; Hauptknochenschicht), the 1891-1892 Homo erectus (H.e.) discovery context [text panel, left], is still central to understanding hominin paleobiogeography in Sundaland. The MB was mostly well-lithified, volcaniclastic, very poorly sorted sandstone and pebbly conglomerate of fluvial origin, as remnant outcrops help establish [G and H]. The stratum produced thousands of well-preserved, disarticulated skeletal bioclasts [J]. Many were greatly oversized relative to lithic components [D to J]. The taphonomy, lithology and setting indicate accumulation in a lowland river during long-runout-lahar flooding. This followed mass deaths in the drainages of a high-standing, active stratovolcano [J]. Small-sized (Axis) deer, large-bodied bovids (Bibos; Bubalus), Stegodon and the tiny boselaphine Duboisia were most abundant as fossils [I]. Crocodylians, turtles, pig and rhinoceros were common. Other documented MB remains were tiger, muntjac, macaque, porcupine, river-fishes and -mollusks, and trees and sedges. Trinil specimens of dog, leopard cat, langur, gibbon, lizard, python, rat and birds are credible additional MB components. Femur I is a reasonably uncontestable MB discovery (as II, III and IV probably are), based on firsthand accounts and site geology [A to E]. Mussel shells from Trinil* reveal possible H.e. use, but no lithic artifacts or hominin-damaged bones have been identified. The diversity of taxa in the MB is greater than in any other individual H.e.-discovery bed. The MB fauna anchors Java’s long-lasting Stegodon-Homo erectus (land-vertebrate) bio-stratigraphic sequence (S.-H.e.). H.e. was secure enough ecologically to withstand the associated Siva-Malayan large-mammal immigrations, endemic faunal developments, and glacioeustatic changes of the Early and Middle Pleistocene [K to L]. Certain S.-H.e. species went extinct, but relatives of others (e.g., MB cervids, large bovids, rhinoceros, pig, primates, tiger, turtles, crocodile, fishes and mollusks) survived into the Late Pleistocene-Holocene, when they occupied dispersed parts of the region extending from Java to Indochina. These biogeographic patterns support the proposition that S.-H.e.-like ecological communities, hominins included, were broadly present across Sundaland in the time of H.e. [A through L refer to other panels; * correction]
DISCOVERY of the Skullcap and Femur I
The finds were made while excavating flat-lying bedrock along the south shore of the Solo River during low-water periods of 1891-1892 [A B]. The Skullcap was discovered beneath an ~40 m2 natural MB outcrop ~6 weeks into the 1891 season [C D]. The next year, bedrock above the MB had to be removed to access more of the bed, which produced a “harvest of bones” when exposed at the end of June. A. de Winter, one of two dig supervisors, found Femur I in August. He remembered seeing Stegodon fossils near the find and losing femoral fragments while handling the specimen at the excavation. The supervisors’ letters indicate that Femur I originated from the same ~20-cm stratigraphic concentration of fossils that had produced the Skullcap 12 m away [A B, above; PFZ in E, below]. Dubois visited Trinil in late July, returned in September, and never expressed doubt about the Skullcap and Femur I originating from one deposit. When the high bank south of the femur spot was dug away later in 1892, ~9 m of hard bedrock had to be removed to reach the MB [E]. The resulting 25-m-long back wall linked the 1891 and 1892 discovery points. In 1893 and 1896-1900, the crew continued removing the largely unfossiliferous bank to mine MB fossils near the seasonal low-water levels [E and F], substantiating Dubois’ published portrayal of the site geology. The Selenka Expedition excavated next to the 1900 trench during 1907-1908, further confirming the concentration of vertebrate bioclasts in the MB at the site. [see also Huffman et al. 2015]
CITATION OF PRINCIPAL ARTICLE: Duyfjes, J. 1936. Zur Geologie und Stratigraphie des Kendenggebietes zwischen Trinil und Soerabaja (Java) [On the Geology and Stratigraphy of the Kendeng Hills between Trinil and Surabaya (Java)]. De Ingenieur in Nederlandsch-Indië, IV. Mijbouw & Geologie, De Mijningenieur Jaargang. III (8/August), 136-149
The translation served in part as source material for:
Huffman, O.F., P.C.H. Albers, A.W. Berkhout, J. de Vos. 2015. Did Trinil Femur I originate from a younger formation than the Homo erectus skullcap? Implications of early site photographs and other provenience records. Paleoanthropology Society Meeting Abstracts, San Francisco, CA, 14-15 April 2015" PaleoAnthropology 2015: A15 (Poster).
http://www.paleoanthro.org/media/meetings/files/Huffman et.al. 2015.pdf
http://www.paleoanthro.org/media/journal/content/PAS2015A.pdf
Huffman, O.F. , Paul C.H. Albers, A. W. Berkhout, J. de Vos. 2018. Trinil’s Main Bonebed (Java) and Homo erectus paleobiogeography. Paleoanthropology Society, April 10-11, 2018, Meeting (Austin, Texas) [Poster].
http://www.paleoanthro.org/media/journal/content/PAS2018A.pdf
http://paleoanthro.org/media/meetings/files/Huffman_etal_2018.pdf