via The Guardian, 23 October 2021: In a word, no. Both of the news stories below sensationalise a lost city narrative, but we know quite a lot about Srivijaya and its history. But more egregiously, this is not an archaeology story, but a treasure-hunting one. It doesn’t sound like the artefacts were recovered in a systematic way or if the local or national archaeology authorities were involved – as they should be, if the findings were to be announced in such a public manner.
Dr Sean Kingsley, a British maritime archaeologist, said: “In the last five years, extraordinary stuff has been coming up. Coins of all periods, gold and Buddhist statues, gems, all the kinds of things that you might read about in Sinbad the Sailor and think it was made up. It’s actually real.”
He described the trove as definitive evidence that Srivijaya was a “waterworld”, its people living on the river like modern boat people, just as ancient texts record: “When the civilisation ended, their wooden houses, palaces and temples all sank along with all their goods.”
He said: “Bobbing above snapping crocodiles, the local fishers – the modern sea people of Sumatra – have finally unlocked the secret of Srivijaya.”
Source: Have Sumatran fishing crews found the fabled Island of Gold? | Indonesia | The Guardian
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Findings of artefacts in the Musi have been reported since decades – in the early 2000s there even was continual looting of the river bed close to the Ampera Bridge, open for anyone to see, that repeatedly made it into the news (e.g., https://sains.kompas.com/read/2009/09/03/09453321/isu.rp.3.miliar.pemburu.harta.karun.penuhi.sungai.musi). That such a story could get attention is all but a witness to the general public’s knowledge about SEAsia’s past.