ARCHEOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK IN IRIAN JAYA. Verslag van een oriënterende reis

Samenvatting

As part of the ISIR project, a reconnaissance trip was undertaken in 1994 to the Bird's Head Peninsula of Irian Jaya (Indonesia), in order to investigate possibilities for archaeological re­search in this region. It became clear that the search will be for caves, since the jungle does not leave prehistoric remains easy to find, nor in a very good state of preservation. Caves pro­vide a good chance of discovering organic ma­terial such as human bones. By studying human skeletal remains various aspects of life in the past in this area can be revealed. By means of DNA analysis of human bone samples migration routes of the prehistoric Melanesian populations can be reconstructed. However, the results of the planned archaeological survey and excava­tions in the Bird's Head Peninsula, in the sum­mer of 1995, will eventually delermine the ac­tual possibilities for further archaeological re­search.