Resolving the archaeological enigma of Indonesia’s ‘Toalean’ culture

长期以来，考古学家一直对来自印度尼西亚苏拉威西岛的“Toalean”人的身份和起源感到困惑。这些史前的狩猎采集者产生了一种独特的文化，大约7500年前出现在这个岛屿的南部，一些学者认为是他们把野狗带到了澳大利亚。尽管经过了世纪的研究，但人们对这些早期觅食动物知之甚少。该项目旨在调查苏拉威西岛的一个重要的新洞穴遗址，这是迄今为止发现的最丰富，最古老的Toalean地点。通过详细的考古发掘和分析，该项目预计将推进一个重要但鲜为人知的印度尼西亚文化的科学知识，该文化往往与澳大利亚的早期人类故事有关。

Archaeologists have long puzzled over the identity and origin of the 'Toalean' people from Sulawesi, Indonesia. These prehistoric hunter-gatherers produced a unique culture that emerged in the south of this island about 7500 years ago, and some scholars believe they introduced the dingo to Australia. Little is known about these early foragers despite a century of research. This project aims to investigate a significant new cave site in Sulawesi that is the richest, most well-dated Toalean locality yet uncovered. Through detailed archaeological excavations and analyses, this project expects to advance scientific knowledge of an important but poorly understood Indonesian culture that is often connected with the early human story in Australia.