<p>The middle Holocene Toalean culture of South Sulawesi, in central Indonesia, represents one of the most distinctive lithic traditions in Wallacea, marked by technological innovations such as backed microliths including serrated ‘sawlettes’, stone ‘Maros points’, and the introduction of bone points. Despite its significance for understanding human adaptation in tropical island environments, the origins and developmental trajectory of the Toalean technology remains poorly understood due to limited stratigraphic evidence. The limestone cave of Leang Panninge provides a critical opportunity to address this gap, as it preserves a deeply stratified and relatively intact cultural sequence spanning from the Late Pleistocene (i.e., pre-Toalean) to the terminal phase of the Toalean occupation. Through technological analysis of the excavated lithic assemblage, an early phase characterized by simple reduction strategies, the direct use of flakes, and the application of bipolar techniques was identified. In contrast, the later phase that emerges in the Holocene period demonstrates more standardized core reduction and the adoption of efficient backing techniques, leading to the production of microlithic tools. These findings indicate that the emergence of Toalean technology was not a sudden development (e.g., owing to the arrival of a new cultural group) but rather a process of continuity combined with innovation. This may suggest that such major technological shifts were likely shaped by ecological adaptation and possible social interactions with other groups in Wallacea. The evidence from Leang Panninge thus highlights both the localized trajectory of lithic technological change in South Sulawesi and its broader implications for reconstructing cultural dynamics and human dispersal in Island Southeast Asia.</p>