Previously, it was known that some fossils were discovered on an island in the middle of Sanguling Reservoir, West Bandung Regency. This discovery, which began with a report from a resident, then was inspected by a team from Geological Engineering ITB.

"The fossils were discovered by a local resident a few months ago. At first, we thought that we could delay the excavation process because the water level is still low and that we have a more urgent excavation project. Now the water level has increased more than 5 meters because of the monsoon season," said Alfend Rudyawan, Ph.D., one of the team members.

Alfend said that, after discussing this with other parties that were involved since the rediscovery of fossils in this area, such as IAGI, Geological Museum, and the local residents, it was decided that the excavation must be done quickly.

*Water level at the Sanguling Reservoir a few months ago (left) and during the excavation process 16 January 2022 (Photo: ITB Geological Engineering Team)

"Unfortunately, we found that some of the fossil parts have been salvaged by unknown persons. We lost all the teeth parts that are required for identification. The plan was to excavate the skull fossils as fast as possible with some adjustment to the weather condition. We were very surprised when we discovered that the fossil is much bigger than we had expected. The buffalo fossil left horn is still wholly attached to the skull. At that time, we received some additional help to race against the weather," he explained.

*A house of the local resident which currently acted as temporary storage for the fossils. Two large specimens are waiting for further identification and restoration.

Currently, the fossils are being secured in a temporary storage location, awaiting the team from the Geological Museum for further analysis and restoration. He hopes that through this combined effort, we could gather additional knowledge and information about the area and expand the fossil catalog for both the current and future generations.

*The field team headed to Sirtwo Island with Mr. Imam A. Sadisun, Vice Chairman of IAGI. (Photo: ITB Geological Engineering Team)

The field team: Alfend Rudyawan Ph.D., Dr. Astyka Pamumpuni, Mika Rizki Puspaningrum Ph.D., Dioptri Cahyo and Nur Rochmin (Geological Engineering FITB – ITb) and Sukiatio Khurniawan (Geological Engineering ITB alumnus who currently work as a lecturer in Universitas Indonesia) in coordination with our off-field team, Dr. Alfita Puspa Handayani (Geodesy Engineering – FITB ITB).

Source: Geological Engineering Team, FITB ITB
Translator: Favian Aldilla R (Civil Engineering, 2019)