This retouched chert flake is from the cave site of Song Gupuh in the Gunung Sewu karst district near Punung in East Java, Indonesia.  The flake was recovered from deposits dating between 10,000-11,400 BP.

 

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Song Gupuh (meaning ‘Flee Cave’ in Javanese) is located under the overhanging side of a collapsed underground cavern.  The road to Punung bisects the site.  Rockshelters are present along the scarps on the margins of the collapse on both sides of the road.  Song Gupuh is very large, measuring 50 m long, 13 m wide, and 13 m high at the entrance.  The surface of the deposits were flattened in 1960 so local people could hold meetings and performances in the cave.  The site was originally excavated by archaeologists R. P. Soejono and Harry Allen in the late 1990s, followed by additional excavations in 2004-2005 by Soejono and Michael J. Morwood to search for deep cultural deposits.  Fill in one of the earlier 2 x 2 metre excavations was removed and excavation continued to 16 metres below the surface, without reaching bedrock.  Artefacts were found to 12.5 m below the surface, dating to ca. 50,000 BP.

The artefact in this model was recovered from Unit I2, Spit 43 (425-435 cm deep), artefact no. 04.  The artefact is unusual in having clearly-visible black residue along one edge, opposite the retouched margins.  The retouching may have been done to prepare the flake for hafting or to make it easier to hold.  The artefact is illustrated in this paper, Figure 5E.

The artefact is on loan to Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology, University of New England.

See the annotations for technological details about this stone tool.