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Braholo Cave, Mount Kidul. The   Evidence of sea shells has also been found at sites which are some distance from the
             site had a continuous fireplace   sea. In Braholo Cave and Song Keplek, Mount Sewu, for example, which is 17 km from the
             layer of 3 meters representing
             5,000 years of use 9,000-4,000   coast line of the Indian Ocean, sea shells were found on top of the freshwater and land
             years ago.               mollusks shells. One explanation for this is that the cave inhabitants themselves journeyed
                                      to the sea to collect them, and the other is they obtained them through barter with the
                                      coast  inhabiting community. Evidence from other cave sites along the southern  coast
                                      make the second possibility the more likely. The kinds of sea mollusks frequently seen
                                      were Pelecypoda of the types of Cardidae, Veneridae, and Arcidae as well as Gastropoda of
                                      the types of Cypraeidae, Neritidae, and Muricidae (Taha, 1985).
                                         Their subsistence lifestyle which included foraging and gathering was always coupled
                                      with hunting. The cave inhabitants made use of the tubers and the grains which were
                                      found in the surrounding area as sources of food. The finding in Braholo Cave and Song
                                      Keplek showed that nutsand grains such as almond (Canarium sp.), candlenut (Alleurites
                                      moluccan), and tropical almond (Terminalia catoppa) were mostly used in particular around
                                      6,000 years ago. The same kinds of nutswere found in the upper layer in Song Gentong,




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     MELANESIA BOOK FA LAYOUT 051216.indd   57                                                                  2/10/17   2:10 PM
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