The Pindai Caves of

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

are an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

palaeontological Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

site important for the study of prehistoric human settlement as well as of the

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

of the island. The Pindai area has been occupied by humans for varying periods over the last 2,800 years.

Description

The site comprises six caves, in

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

upraised about , at the seaward tip of the Népoui Peninsula on the north-west coast of Grande Terre, about north-west of Noumea. Two of the caves have easy walk-in access; they contain the richest cultural material and the fewest

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s. The other four caves are

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s capable of trapping animals, especially ground-dwelling and

flightless bird Flightless birds are birds that cannot Bird flight, fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites (ostriches, emus, cassowary, cassowaries, Rhea (bird), rheas, an ...

s, and contain the most fossils. All the caves broaden from their entrances into large underground chambers. Numerous

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of extinct fauna have been found in the caves, including the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

terrestrial crocodile ''

Mekosuchus ''Mekosuchus'' is a genus of extinct Australasian mekosuchine crocodilian. Species of ''Mekosuchus'' were generally small-sized (less than long), terrestrial animals with short, blunt-snouted heads and strong limbs. Four species are currently ...

'', the giant horned turtle ''

Meiolania ''Meiolania'' is an extinct genus of meiolaniid stem-turtle native to Australasia throughout much of the Cenozoic. ''Meiolania'' was a large turtle, with the shell alone ranging from in length. Four species are currently recognized, although the ...

'', and numerous bird

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

, with remains of the giant flightless '' Sylviornis'' being especially common.

References

Caves of New Caledonia Archaeological sites in Oceania {{Oceania-archaeology-stub