Sites tell of prehistoric societies

27 February 2007 (Jakarta Post) – A short archaeological overview of Karawang, a city east of Jakarta.

Sites tell of prehistoric societies

Mention Karawang, a city around three hours east of Jakarta, to most people and you’ll bring to mind images of rice fields or the lyrics of nationalist poet Chairil Anwar.

But few are aware that the area is home to 31 different archaeological sites from several civilizations. Some have been restored, while many others remain buried beneath the rice fields.

Frenchman Jean Boisllier was the first to conduct research in the area, digging in Cibuaya on the city’s outskirts in 1959.

His discovery revealed the remnants of a civilization close to the ancient kingdom of Tarumanagara, but later investigations have revealed finds dating back to prehistoric times.

Three years after Boisllier, a team of archaeologists led by R.P. Soejono found clay pots, tools, beads and human bones from a community that lived around 2000 to 1500 years ago in what is now Buni, in Bekasi. Now known as the Buni community, the items found in the area show the ability of their craftsmen.

A year later, noted researcher Edi Sedyawati studied statues depicting the Hindu god Vishnu that had been found in Cibuaya and concluded that they were from an 8th century civilization, along with a brick monument in the area.

In the 1980s, mounds of soil rising over the rice fields of Batujaya, west of Cibuaya, turned out to be ancient masonry constructions thought to date back to the 4th century.

Related Books:
– Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula by P. M. Munoz
– Ancient History (The Indonesian Heritage Series) by Indonesian Heritage
– Prehistoric Indonesia: A reader