Space Composition of Mesolithic Caves Habitation in Karst Area "bukit Bangkai" Tanah Bumbu, South Kalimantan: Wetland Archaeological Study

Abstract

Geologically, the karst area of "Bukit Bangkai" is located in the southeastern part of the Meratus Karst Mountains, South Kalimantan. The landscape of the "Bukit Bangkai" karst area is partly in the form of karst hills and is inseparable from the swamp landscape which is adjacent to the river and the coast. In the karst area of "Bukit Bangkai", numbers of cave habitations and rock shelters have been found. In the cave habitations area, numbers of Mesolithic devices have been found, food scraps which accumulate in kitchenmidden, the distribution of cave paintings and burials. Based on the research data, it can be stated that numbers of habitation caves and niches are Mesolithic residential caves. As a Mesolithic residence cave site, it has not yet been studied about the space composition of residential cave spaces that carry out the distribution of cave habitation for the sake of residential space, kitchenmidden space, rock paintings and burial space. In this research, it stated the structuring residential cave space in conjunction with the swamps or swamplands landscape. The renewal of the results of this study is about spatial planning of Mesolithic caves habitation in swamp environments. Previous research on structuring Mesolithic caves habitation was associated with dry land landscapes, such as Mesolithic cave habitation in the Maros-Pangkep area, South Sulawesi. Thus, the renewal of this research can be used as a reference for Mesolithic cave patterns in the swamp landscape landscape environment or swamplands.