FLUVIAL DEPOSITION OF THE NGANDONG HOMO ERECTUS SITE IN CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA

Excavations at the Ngandong paleoanthropological site along the Solo River in Central Java, Indonesia have produced fourteen Homo erectus fossils, as well as upwards of 25,000 vertebrate macrofossils since the first excavations by the Dutch Geological Survey in 1931. The ages of these fossils have been in question for decades and attempts to date them have been undertaken through a variety of numerical methods. However, comparatively few studies have been done to understand the geomorphological processes that created the Ngandong site as a whole, as well as its relationship to the surrounding Solo River terraces and the volcanic arc to the south. This study analyzes the site stratigraphy, sediment grain size and grain shape, and mineralogy of fluvial deposits at Ngandong and nearby terraces in an effort to reconstruct the discrete depositional environments within the Solo River that formed this intriguing site. These results spark discussion about the impact of volcanic activity and Quaternary climate change on the early fauna and hominins of Java and the rest of Southeast Asia.