DSSM Analysis Report: Sulawesi Cave Art Anchor Assemblage (≥67.8 ka)

his paper presents a structured DSSM (Deep Symbolic Systems Model) case analysis of the ≥67,800-year-old Sulawesi cave art assemblage, treating it as a deep-time anchor example of stabilized symbolic behavior in early Homo sapiens. Using uranium-series dated hand stencil panels from multiple Sulawesi karst caves (including Liang Metanduno, Gua Mbokita, and Gua Anawai), the study applies a standardized DSSM field protocol to evaluate whether the observed markings meet operational criteria for symbolic infrastructure rather than isolated expression.

The report evaluates the assemblage across DSSM variables such as mnemonic anchoring, motif stabilization, access regulation, temporal depth, cognitive complexity, cultural scalability, and migration portability. It links repeated stencil grammar, layered pigment phases, fixed panel reuse, and deep cave placement to structural signals of cross-generational symbolic practice. Scores and interpretations are presented in a variable-by-variable framework, supported by a summary mapping table.

Methodologically, the paper emphasizes observable structural signals over inferred meanings, acknowledges uranium-series dating limits (minimum ages on mineral overlays), and frames interpretations probabilistically. It positions Sulawesi’s ≥67.8 ka stencil record as one of the earliest securely dated symbolic marking systems in Island Southeast Asia and argues that the pattern is consistent with already-operational symbolic systems accompanying early Wallacea–Sahul dispersals.

In function, the paper serves as a DSSM case file: a protocol-driven analytical report that anchors broader theoretical claims about deep symbolic stabilization in empirically dated archaeological material.