EKSISTENSI BUDAYA PRA-NEOLITIK DI SITUS PRASEJARAH BONTOCANI SULAWESI SELATAN

Abstract

Salah satu cara untuk mengetahui keberadaan manusia prasejarah adalah dengan melihat tinggalan budaya materinya, seperti sebaran alat-alat batu dan seni lukis cadas yang masih ada hingga saat ini. Kawasan Situs Bontocani saat ini terbagi atas dua wilayah situs, antara lain Situs Gua Batti dan situs gua-gua Pattuku. Hal tersebut dibuktikan dengan banyaknya penemuan alat alat batu seperti alat serpih, alat serut, mata panah (maros point), batu inti, alat tulang, arang dan kerang yang ditemukan di kedua situs. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui potensi arkeologis Situs Gua Batti dan Situs Gua-gua Pattuku, menambah perbendaharaan situs pra-neolitik di Sulawesi Selatan dan menjadi bahan acuan untuk penelitian berikutnya sampai pada tahap pelestarian. Titik klimaks penelitian ini adalah untuk menelusuri kemungkinan adanya keterkaitan antara Situs Gua Batti dan situs gua-gua Pattuku melalui temuan
permukaan dan tidak menutup kemungkinan menjadi benang merah penghubung jalur migrasi manusia pengusung budaya pra-neolitik di Sulawesi Selatan. Namun permasalahan yang muncul kemudian adalah apakah ada keterkaitan budaya antara situs gua Batti dan situs Gua-gua Pattuku. Selain itu, benarkah situs Gua Batti dan situs gua-gua Pattuku pernah menjadi kawasan hunian di masa pra-neolitik. Melalui berbagai data lapangan, penulis akan menjelaskan secara empiris keberadaan budaya pra-neolitik di situs Bontocani. Tentunya, dengan bertumpu pada teori-teori yang dikemukakan oleh para peneliti-peneliti terdahulu seperti; Paul dan Fritz Sarasin, van Stein Callenfels, van Heekeren, Soejono serta pengalaman peneliti lain dalam merangkai jejak budaya Pra-neolitik di Situs Bontocani, Sulawesi Selatan.

One way to determined the former presence of prehistoric humans is to look at the remains of their material culture, as seen in the distribution of stone tools and rock paintings that have survived to the present day. The Bontocani site area is currently divided into two localities, Gua Batti and the Pattuku cave sites. Prehistoric human occupation here is proven by the numerous remains such as flake tools, scrapers, arrowheads (maros points), cores, bone tools, charcoal and shells found at both localities. In general terms, the research aim is to determine the archaeological potential of Gua Batti and the Pattuku cave sites so as to enrich the repertoire of pre-neolithic sites in South Sulawesi and to provide a reference point for follow-up research and site preservation. The main purpose of the research was to use surface survey data to explore the possibility of a connection between Gua Batti and the Pattuku cave sites, which may mark one of the pathways in the network of migratory routes taken by pre-neolithic culture bearers in South Sulawesi. While the purpose of this exercise was to establish a correlation between Gua Batti and the Pattuku cave sites, the finding that clearly emerged was that these caves served as residential places during the pre-neolithic period. Despite the variability of the field data, the author's empirical explanation for these field data is the former presence of pre-neolithic culture in the Bontocani site area, when viewed in the context of the theories of earlier researchers such as Paul and Fritz Sarasin, Van Stein Callenfels, van Heekeren, Soejono and other authors.