Matar: A forgotten but promising Pleistocene locality in East Java

Matar is a locality near Ngandong located on the east bank of the Solo River. Archaeological fieldwork in this locality revealed the existence of several ancient alluvial terraces. Fossils and lithic artifacts found embedded on these terraces were in poorly consolidated conglomerate comprising sand and gravels. Faunal remains from Matar consisted of several extinct taxa such as Stegodon trigonocephalus, Bubalus paleokarabau, Bibos paleosondaicus, and Hexaprotodon sivalensis. These fauna represented typical dry and open-woodland environment in the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in Java. In addition, lithic artifacts were found in the same layer and consisted of flake-tools and a small number of crude core-tools. Flake tools from Matar were quite similar to the description of flake-tools found in Ngandong (see Movius Jr., 1948; Van Heekeren, 1972). However, the raw material used was not limited to chalcedony, but included chert and jasper. Our study has revealed that Matar and its surrounding environment is a promising locality, although it has been forgotten for more than two decades since G.J. Bartstra visited this locality for the first time in 1986.