2019年4月初，澳大利亚国立大学的Ceri Shipton博士和他的同事成为第一批探索奥比岛的考古学家，奥比岛是印度尼西亚北方马鲁古省众多热带岛屿之一。研究小组的发现表明，生活在欧比岛上的史前人类在陆地和海洋上都很熟练，他们在茂密的雨林中狩猎，在海边觅食，甚至可能在岛屿之间航行。

In early April 2019, Dr Ceri Shipton and his colleagues from Australian National University became the first archaeologists to explore Obi, one of many tropical islands in Indonesia's Maluku Utara province. The research team's discoveries suggest that the prehistoric people who lived on Obi were adept on both land and sea, hunting in the dense rainforest, foraging on the seashore, and possibly even voyaging between islands.

这些发掘是一个项目的一部分，该项目旨在更多地了解人类是如何从亚洲大陆分散开来的，通过印度尼西亚群岛，进入曾经连接澳大利亚和新几内亚的史前大陆。研究小组早期的研究表明，包括欧比岛在内的最北端的岛屿，被称为瓦拉西亚群岛，可能提供了最容易的迁徙路线。这些岛屿似乎也可能是几千年前人类在该地区跳岛航行的关键“垫脚石”。但为了支持这一观点，他们需要古代人类在这一偏远地区生活的考古证据。因此，他们前往欧比寻找可能揭示早期占领证据的遗址。

The excavations were part of a project to learn more about how people first dispersed from mainland Asia, through the Indonesian archipelago and into the prehistoric continent that once connected Australia and New Guinea. The team's earlier research suggested that the northernmost islands in the group, known as the Wallacean islands, including Obi, would have offered the easiest migration route. It also seemed likely that these islands were crucial 'stepping stones' on humans' island-hopping voyages through this region millennia ago. But to support this idea, they needed archaeological evidence for humans living in this remote area in the ancient past. So, they travelled to Obi to look for sites that might reveal evidence of early occupation.

就在欧比岛北部海岸的基洛村的内陆，希普顿和他的同事发现了两个洞穴，里面有适合挖掘的史前岩石避难所。在基洛当地居民的允许和帮助下，他们在每个避难所挖了一个小的试验性挖掘。在那里，他们发现了许多人工制品，包括斧头的碎片，其中一些可以追溯到大约14000年前。基洛最早的斧头是用蛤壳制成的。大约在同一时期，在该地区的其他地方也发现了由蛤壳制成的斧头，包括在东北部附近的Gebe岛。就像在Gebe一样，Obi的斧头很可能被用来建造独木舟，从而使这些早期的人们能够在邻近岛屿的社区之间保持联系。

Just inland from the village of Kelo on Obi's northern coast, Shipton and his colleagues found two caves containing prehistoric rock shelters that were suitable for excavation. With the permission and help of the local people of Kelo, they dug a small test excavation in each shelter. There they found numerous artefacts, including fragments of axes, some dating to about 14,000 years ago. The earliest axes at Kelo were made using clam shells. Axes made from clam shells from roughly the same time had also previously been found elsewhere in this region, including on the nearby island of Gebe to the northeast. As on Gebe, it is highly likely that Obi's axes were used in the construction of canoes, thus allowing these early peoples to maintain connections between communities on neighbouring islands.

基洛遗址最古老的文化层为研究小组提供了人类在欧比岛居住的最早记录，可以追溯到大约18000年前。当时的气候比现在更干燥、更冷，岛上茂密的雨林可能没有现在那么难以穿透。海平面比现在低120米，这意味着欧比岛是一个更大的岛屿，包括今天的比萨岛，以及附近的其他几个小岛。

The oldest cultural layers from the Kelo site provided the team with the earliest record for human occupation on Obi, dating back around 18,000 years. At this time the climate was drier and colder than today, and the island's dense rainforests would likely have been much less impenetrable than they are now. Sea levels were about 120 metres lower, meaning Obi was a much larger island, encompassing what is today the separate island of Bisa, as well as several other small islands nearby.

大约11700年前，随着最近一次冰河期的结束，气候变得明显温暖湿润，毫无疑问，这使得欧比的丛林更加茂密。根据研究人员的说法，大约在这个时候，第一批由石头而不是贝壳制成的斧头出现了，这并非巧合，可能是为了应对它们被大量用于清理和改造日益茂密的雨林。虽然石头磨成斧头所需的时间是贝壳的两倍，但坚硬的材料能保持更长的锋利边缘。

Roughly 11,700 years ago, as the most recent ice age ended, the climate became significantly warmer and wetter, no doubt making Obi's jungle much thicker. According to the researchers, it is no coincidence that around this time the first axes crafted from stone rather than sea shells appear, likely in response to their heavy-duty use for clearing and modification of the increasingly dense rainforest. While stone takes about twice as long to grind into an axe compared to shell, the harder material keeps its sharp edge for longer.

根据研究人员在基洛洞穴中出土的骨头判断，生活在那里的人们主要捕食罗斯柴尔德的库库斯，一种像负鼠一样的生物，今天仍然生活在欧比岛上。随着森林变得越来越茂密，人们可能使用斧头来砍伐森林，使狩猎变得更容易。

Judging by the bones which the researchers unearthed in the Kelo caves, people living there mainly hunted the Rothschild's cuscus, a possum-like creature that still lives on Obi today. As the forest grew more dense, people probably used axes to clear patches of forest and make hunting easier.

希普顿的团队在基洛遗址的避难所挖掘中发现了一种叫做黑曜石的火山玻璃物质，它一定是从另一个岛屿带来的，因为欧比岛上没有已知的来源。它还揭示了特殊类型的珠子，类似于之前在瓦拉科南部岛屿上发现的珠子。这些发现再次支持了欧比岛居民经常前往其他岛屿的观点。

Shipton's team's excavation of the shelters at the Kelo site unearthed a volcanic glass substance called obsidian, which must have been brought over from another island, as there is no known source on Obi. It also revealed particular types of beads, similar to those previously found on islands in southern Wallacea. These finds again support the idea that Obi islanders routinely travelled to other islands.

挖掘表明，人们成功地在两个基洛避难所生活了大约1万年。但是，大约8000年前，两者都被遗弃了。居民们是完全离开了欧比岛，还是搬到了岛上的其他地方?也许丛林已经长得太茂密了，斧头已经无法对付茂密的灌木丛了。也许人们只是搬到了海边，转而以捕鱼而不是狩猎作为生存手段。

The excavations suggest people successfully lived in the two Kelo shelters for about 10,000 years. But then, about 8,000 years ago, both were abandoned. Did the residents leave Obi completely, or move elsewhere on the island? Perhaps the jungle had grown so thick that axes were no longer a match for the dense undergrowth. Perhaps people simply moved to the coast and turned to fishing rather than hunting as a means of survival.

无论离开的原因是什么，没有证据表明在这段时间之后使用了基洛人的避难所，直到大约1000年前，这些避难所被拥有陶器和金银制品的人重新占用。鉴于Obi的位置，在占领的最后阶段，参与马鲁古群岛与世界其他地区之间的香料贸易的人们似乎也可能使用基洛避难所。

Whatever the reason for the departure, there is no evidence for use of the Kelo shelters after this time, until about 1,000 years ago, when they were re-occupied by people who owned pottery as well as items made out of gold and silver. It seems likely, in view of Obi's location, that this final phase of occupation also saw the Kelo shelters used by people involved in the historic trade in spices between the Maluku islands and the rest of the world.