Fig 1.
Geographic distribution of sites with human burials described in the text. For site numbers, refer to S1 Table. Basemap made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com.
Fig 2.
Location, chronology and stratigraphy of Tron Bon Lei.
A) Location of Tron Bon Lei on the south coast of Alor. Map reproduced with the permission of the CartoGIS Services, Scholarly Information Services, The Australian National University; B) Bayesian model of dates for Tron Bon Lei, square B. Modelled in OxCal v.4.4. [13] with the Marine20 [14] calibration curve for marine shell samples and a U(0,50) mixed calibration curve with IntCal20 [15] and SHCal20 [16], as recommended for the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone [16, 17]; C) General view of squares B, D and E; D) Schematic drawing illustrating the morphology of the grave cuts for each of the burials from Tron Bon Lei; E) Combined stratigraphy of squares B, D and E.
Fig 3.
A) Complete articulated postcranial skeleton; B) Cranial remains recovered in 2014. Modified from Samper Carro et al. 2019 [9]; C) Skeletal diagram indicating the elements recovered (included those documented in 2014) and joint assessment (circles). D)Sketch drawing of the TLB-1 individual, including the elements excavated in 2014 (Square B, left) and the postcranial skeleton documented in 2018 (Square D, right). Dashed line indicates the original east limit of Square B in 2014.
Table 1.
Age-at-death Tron Bon Lei individuals.
Table 2.
Assessment of labile and persistent joints in the three individuals from Tron Bon Lei.
Fig 4.
A) Photograph of lesion on the right parietal (top) and CT images showing top (bottom left), middle (bottom centre) and bottom (bottom right) morphology of the lesion on the Z plane. Dashed lines indicate the location of the scanned images; B) Detail of dental lesion and CT images on the X (top) and Y (bottom) planes showing the morphology of the lesion (white arrows).
Fig 5.
Postcranial pathologies in TLB-1.
A) Lesion in right ilium. Comparison between right and left ilia (rectangle). Note the abrupt end of the right ilium after the greater sciatic notch. Detail of the cloacae (left, black arrow) on the lateral, and new bone formation (right, black arrow) on the auricular surface on medial; B) Detail of right distal tibia with two cloacae and pitting on the posterior side. Note spiral breakage morphology.
Fig 6.
A) Broken fish-hook shaft recovered during the 2018 excavations; B) Example of fragmented jabbing hook (J-shaped) documented in 2014 from the TLB-1 burial; C) Example of rotating hook documented in 2014 on the neck of TLB-1. B and C modified from O’Connor et al. 2017 [8].
Fig 7.
A) General view of burial showing vertical legs (white arrows) and articulated upper right limb (black arrow); B) Sketch drawing of the position of the skeletal elements based on the spatial plotting of elements during fieldwork. Only those elements plotted are illustrated. Dashed lines in rock/boulders indicate that these elements were on top of the skeletal remains, removed before excavation of the burial; R = Right; L = Left; RH = Right hand; LH Left hand; MC = Metacarpal; MT = Metatarsal; PP = Proximal phalanx; IP = Intermediate phalanx; C) Skeletal diagram indicating the elements documented in DE B2 and joint assessment (circles).
Fig 8.
Right first metacarpal from DE B2.
Perforation and unidentified intrusive object (white arrow).
Fig 9.
Cobbles from Tron Bon Lei burials.
A) Ochred cobble with a regular cupule in the centre, that was placed directly on top of burial E16b; B) Grindstone associated with burial DE B2; C) Flaked surface of a cobble associated with burial DE B2. See Fig 7 for location of these cobbles in DE B2.
Fig 10.
Burial E16b in situ (left). Skeletal diagram indicating the elements documented in the burial and joint assessment (circles).
Fig 11.
Pathologies and modifications in E16b.
A) Left scaphoid with evidence of healed fracture; B) Left, fragment of right parietal with circular perforation and (white arrow) and incomplete outline of a second perforation (black arrow). Right, detail of circular perforation; C) Rib fragment with cutmarks. Yellow dotted line indicates the exact position of the profile represented in D. D) 3D Confocal images at 10x of colour data (top) and (bottom) profile of the cutmark analysed (yellow dotted line and white arrow in C).
Fig 12.
Bar chart showing the chronology of the different burial types discussed in this paper. Question marks indicate possible burials, which chronology or burial type is uncertain (see discussion text).