Primeval Forest in the Period of Human Cultural History on Gunungsewu Karst Indonesia

AbstractThis research was carried out to seek evidence of the presence of karst forestduring the human cultural history in Gunungsewu in the past.The human cultural history approach and pollen deposit analysis were used for findingthe relationshipbetweenhuman cultureswith thecondition of the forest in the past. The lawuniformity was usedas a basis foranalysis,whichexplainsthatthe presentis the keytothe past. The ancient karst forest was identified frompollen deposition andthe age of deposit was carriedout byradiocarbonanalysis.Thisresearchcontributesto reach forest resources sustainability with respect to recent increasing forest depressiondue toanthropogenic factors.Research indicates that at prehistoric human occupations in the Gunungsewu karst area did not affect the condition of flora. Cultural traits onprehistoric and territorial subsistencecan explain that it is not anthropogenic factors that caused changes in the types of flora.Sincethere was noculture ofexploitation, the extraction of natural resourceswas justperformed tomeet their subsistence. Changes inthe type offlorain the past becomea bio-indicatorof palaeo-climate change on Gunungsewu Karst area. The beginning of forest karst destruction occurs in the periods of Islamicempireandcolonialism, which are known as tenure systems of migration and exploitation of teak by Colonizers.Results of the forest reconstruction along the human prehistory indicated that the lower mountainrain-forestoccurred on Keplek period, then the mixed type of lower mountain rainforest and tropical rain-forest occurred on the period of Ngrijangan. In the period of Klepu, the forest type turn into the type of tropical rainforest. Monsoon is the last forest type of residents in the human history since the Hinduism and Buddhism period up to the present