Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T00:46:13.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Sembiran and Pacung on the north coast of Bali: a strategic crossroads for early trans-Asiatic exchange

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2015

Ambra Calo*
Affiliation:
Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History & Language, The Australian National University, CanberraACT 0200, Australia
Bagyo Prasetyo
Affiliation:
National Centre for Archaeological Research, Jakarta 12510, Indonesia
Peter Bellwood
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University, CanberraACT 0200, Australia
James W. Lankton
Affiliation:
UCL Qatar, PO Box 25256, 2nd Floor, Georgetown Building, Hamad bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar
Bernard Gratuze
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, Centre Ernest Babelon, CNRS, UMR 5060, Université d’Orléans, Orléans 45100, France
Thomas Oliver Pryce
Affiliation:
Préhistoire et Technologie, CNRS, UMR 7055, Maison René-Ginouvès, 21 Allée de l’Université, Nanterre 92023, France
Andreas Reinecke
Affiliation:
Commission for Archaeology of Non-European Cultures, German Archaeological Institute, Dürenstrasse 35–37, 53173 Bonn, Germany
Verena Leusch
Affiliation:
Curt-Engelhorn Centre for Archaeometry, D6 3, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Heidrun Schenk
Affiliation:
Commission for Archaeology of Non-European Cultures, German Archaeological Institute, Dürenstrasse 35–37, 53173 Bonn, Germany
Rachel Wood
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Daley Road, CanberraACT 0200, Australia
Rochtri A. Bawono
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Literature and Culture, Udayana University, Jl. Pulau Nias 13, Denpasar 80114, Indonesia
I Dewa Kompiang Gede
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Jl. Raya Sesetan 80, Denpasar 80223, Indonesia
Ni L.K. Citha Yuliati
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Jl. Raya Sesetan 80, Denpasar 80223, Indonesia
Jack Fenner
Affiliation:
Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History & Language, The Australian National University, CanberraACT 0200, Australia
Christian Reepmeyer
Affiliation:
Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History & Language, The Australian National University, CanberraACT 0200, Australia
Cristina Castillo
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
Alison K. Carter
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])

Abstract

Studies of trade routes across Southeast Asia in prehistory have hitherto focused largely on archaeological evidence from Mainland Southeast Asia, particularly the Thai Peninsula and Vietnam. The role of Indonesia and Island Southeast Asia in these networks has been poorly understood, owing to the paucity of evidence from this region. Recent research has begun to fill this void. New excavations at Sembiran and Pacung on the northern coast of Bali have produced new, direct AMS dates from burials, and analytical data from cultural materials including pottery, glass, bronze, gold andsemi-precious stone, as well as evidence of local bronze-casting. This suggests strong links with the Indian subcontinent and Mainland Southeast Asia from the late first millennium BC, some 200 years earlier than previously thought.

Type
Research
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd., 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anggraeni. 1999. The introduction of metallurgy into Indonesia: a comparative study with special reference to Gilimanuk. Unpublished MA dissertation, Australian National University.Google Scholar
Ardika, I.W. 1991. Archaeological research in northeastern Bali, Indonesia. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Australian National University.Google Scholar
Ardika, I.W. 2008. Archaeological traces of the early harbour town, in B. Hauser-Schäublin & I.W. Ardika (ed.) Burials, text and rituals: ethnoarchaeological investigations in north Bali, Indonesia: 149–57. Göttingen: Göttingen University Press.Google Scholar
Ardika, I.W. & Bellwood, P.. 1991. Sembiran: the beginnings of Indian contact with Bali. Antiquity 65: 221–32.Google Scholar
Ardika, I.W., Bellwood, P., Eggleton, R.A. & Ellis, D.J.. 1993. A single source for South Asian export-quality Rouletted Ware. Man and Environment 18 (1): 101109.Google Scholar
Ardika, I.W., Bellwood, P., Sutaba, I.M. & Yuliati, N.L.K.C.. 1997. Sembiran and the first Indian contacts with Bali: an update. Antiquity 71: 193–95.Google Scholar
Aziz, F. & Sudarti, . 1996. Bahan Baku Perunggu pada Awal Masehi di Bali: Tinjauan dari Sudut Analisa Kimia. Paper presented at the Pertemuan Ilmiah Arkeology VII meeting, 12–16 March, Cipanas.Google Scholar
Begley, V. 1996. Changing perceptions on Arikamedu, in V. Begley (ed.) The ancient port of Arikamedu: new excavations and researches 1989–1992, volume 1: 140. Paris: École française d’Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Bellina, B. 2007. Cultural exchange between India and Southeast Asia: production and distribution of hard stone ornaments (VI c. BC–VI c. AD). Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.Google Scholar
Bellina, B. & Silapanth, P.. 2008. Weaving cultural identities on trans-Asiatic networks. Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient 93: 257–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2006.6039 Google Scholar
Bellwood, P. 1980. The Buidane culture of the Talaud Islands, northeastern Indonesia. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 2: 69127.Google Scholar
Bennett, A.T.N. 2009. Gold in early Southeast Asia. ArcheoSciences 33: 99107.Google Scholar
Bouvet, P. 2011. Preliminary study of Indian and Indian style wares from Khao Sam Kaeo (Chumpon, peninsular Thailand), fourth–second centuries BCE, in P.-Y. Manguin, A. Mani & G. Wade (ed.) Early interactions between South and Southeast Asia: 4781. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51: 337–60.Google Scholar
Bronson, B. & Glover, I.. 1984. Archaeological radiocarbon dates from Indonesia: a first list. Indonesia Circle 34: 3744.Google Scholar
Calo, A. 2014. Trails of bronze drums across early Southeast Asia: exchange routes and connected cultural spheres. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar
Carter, A.K. 2013. Trade, exchange, and sociopolitical development in Iron Age (500 BC–AD 500) Mainland Southeast Asia: an examination of stone and glass beads from Cambodia and Thailand. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.Google Scholar
Castillo, C. 2013. The archaeobotany of Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong: the agriculture of late prehistoric southern Thailand. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University College London.Google Scholar
Drawatik, M. 2008. The burial system at Pacung, in B. Hauser-Schäublin & I.W. Ardika (ed.) Burials, text and rituals: ethnoarchaeological investigations in north Bali, Indonesia: 177–90. Göttingen: Göttingen University Press.Google Scholar
Ford, L.A., Pollard, A.M., Coningham, R.A.E. & Stern, B.. 2005. A geochemical investigation of the origin of Rouletted Ware and other related South Asian fine wares. Antiquity 79: 909–20.Google Scholar
Gede, I.D.K. 2009. Budaya Penguburan Pra-Hindu, Pangkung Paruk, Kec. Seririt, Kabupaten Buleleng. Forum Arkeologi II: 112–30.Google Scholar
Glover, I.C. & Bellina, B.. 2011. Ban Don Ta Phet and Khao Sam Kaeo: the earliest Indian contacts re-assessed, in P.-Y. Manguin, A. Mani & G. Wade (ed.) Early interactions between South and Southeast Asia: 1745. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar
Gogte, V. 2001. XRD analysis of the Rouletted Ware and other fine grey ware from Tissamaharama, in H.-J. Weisshaar, H. Roth & W. Wijeyapala (ed.) Ancient Ruhuna: Sri Lankan-German archaeological project in the Southern Province, volume 1: 197202. Mainz: von Zabern.Google Scholar
Hirao, Y. & Ro., J.-H. 2013. Chemical composition and lead isotope ratios of bronze artifacts excavated in Cambodia and Thailand, in Y. Yasuda (ed.) Water civilisation: from Yangtze to Khmer civilisations: 247312. Tokyo: Springer.Google Scholar
Hogg, A.G., Hua, Q., Blackwell, P.G., Niu, M., Buck, C.E., Guilderson, T.P., Heaton, T.J., Palmer, J.G., Reimer, P.J., Reimer, R.W., Turney, C.S.M. & Zimmerman, S.R.H.. 2013. SHCal13 southern hemisphere calibration, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55: 1889–903. http://dx.doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16783 Google Scholar
Lankton, J.W. & Dussubieux, L.. 2012. Early glass in Southeast Asia, in K. Janssens (ed.) Modern methods for analysing archaeological and historic glass: 413–39. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Lankton, J.W., Dussubieux, L. & Gratuze, B.. 2008. Glass from Khao Sam Kaeo: transferred technology for an early Southeast Asian exchange network. Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient 93: 317–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2006.6041 Google Scholar
Lansing, J.S., Redd, A.J., Karafet, T.M., Watkins, J., Ardika, I.W., Surata, S.P.K., Schoenfelder, J.S., Campbell, M., Merriwether, A.M. & Hammer, M.F.. 2004. An Indian trader in ancient Bali? Antiquity 78: 287–93.Google Scholar
Lansing, J.S., Redd, A.J., Karafet, T.M., Watkins, J., Ardika, I.W., Surata, S.P.K., Schoenfelder, J.S., Campbell, M., Merriwether, A.M. & Hammer, M.F.. 2006. Reply. Antiquity 80 Project Gallery. Available at: http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/lansing/#response (accessed 24 October 2014).Google Scholar
Magee, P. 2010. Revisiting Indian Rouletted Ware and the impact of Indian Ocean trade in early historic South Asia. Antiquity 84: 1043–54.Google Scholar
Manguin, P.-Y. & Indradjaya, A.. 2011. The Batujaya site: new evidence of early Indian influence in west Java, in Manguin, P.-Y., Mani, A. & Wade, G. (ed.) Early interactions between South and Southeast Asia: 113–36. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar
Marshall, J. 1975. Taxila—an illustrated account of archaeological excavations. Volumes I–III. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass & Archaeological Survey of India.Google Scholar
McConnell, J. & Glover, I.C.. 1990. A newly found bronze drum from Bali, Indonesia: some technical considerations. Modern Quaternary Research in Southeast Asia 11: 138.Google Scholar
McLauchlan, R. & Thomas, R.G.. 2006. Indian traders in ancient Bali: a reconsideration of the evidence. Antiquity 80 Project Gallery. Available at: http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/lansing/ (accessed 24 October 2014).Google Scholar
Nenna, M.-D. & Gratuze, B.. 2009. Étude diachronique des compositions de verres employés dans les vases mosaïqués antiques: résultats préliminaires, in K. Janssens, P. Degryse, P. Cosyns, J. Caen & L. Van't dack (ed.) Annales of the 17th Congress of the International Association for the History of Glass, 2006, Antwerp: 199205. Brussels: Academic & Scientific Publishers.Google Scholar
Nguyen, K.D., Glover, I.C. & Yamagata, M.. 2006. Excavations at Tra Kieu and Go Cam, Quang Nam Province, central Viet Nam, in E.A. Bacus, I.C. Glover & P.D. Sharrock (ed.) Uncovering Southeast Asia's past: 216–31. Singapore: NUS.Google Scholar
Pavan, A. & Schenk, H.. 2012. Crossing the Indian Ocean before the Periplus: a comparison of pottery assemblages at the sites of Sumhuram (Oman) and Tissamaharama (Sri Lanka). Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 23: 191202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aae.12000 Google Scholar
Pryce, T.O., Bellina-Pryce, B. & Bennett, A.T.N.. 2008. The development of metal technologies in the Upper Thai-Malay Peninsula. Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient 93: 295315. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2006.6040 Google Scholar
Pryce, T.O., Baron, S., Bellina, B.H.M., Bellwood, P.S., Chang, N., Chattopadhyay, P., Dezon, E., Glover, I.C., Hamilton, E., Higham, C.F.W., Kyaw, A.A., Vin, L., Natapintu, S., Nguyen, V., Pautreau, J.-P., Pernicka, E., Pigott, V.C., Pollard, A.M., Pottier, C., Reinecke, A., Sayavongkhamdy, T., Souksavatdy, V. & White, J.. 2014. More questions than answers: the Southeast Asian Lead Isotope Project 2009–2012. Journal of Archaeological Science 42: 273–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.08.024 Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Bronk Ramsey, C., Grootes, P.M., Guilderson, T.P., Haflidason, H., Hajdas, I., Hatté, C., Heaton, T.J., Hoffmann, D.L., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kaiser, K.F., Kromer, B., Manning, S.W., Niu, M., Reimer, R.W., Richards, D.A., Scott, E.M., Southon, J.R., Staff, R.A., Turney, C.S.M. & van der Plicht, J.. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55: 1869–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16947 Google Scholar
Reinecke, A., Vin, L. & Seng, S.. 2009. The first golden age of Cambodia: excavations at Prohear. Bonn: German Foreign Office, Phnom Penh.Google Scholar
Schenk, H. 2001. The development of pottery at Tissamaharama, in Weisshaar, H.-J., Roth, H. & Wijeyapala, W. (ed.) Ancient Ruhuna: Sri Lankan-German archaeological project in the Southern Province, volume 1: 5995. Mainz: von Zabern.Google Scholar
Schenk, H. 2006. The dating and historical value of Rouletted Ware. Zeitschrift für Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen 1: 123–52.Google Scholar
Schlosser, S., Reinecke, A., Schwab, R., Pernicka, E., Seng, S. & Vin, L.. 2012. Early Cambodian gold and silver from Prohear: composition, trace elements and gilding. Journal of Archaeological Science 39: 2877–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.04.045 Google Scholar
Soegondho, S. 1985. The pottery from Gilimanuk, Bali. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 6: 4654.Google Scholar
Soejono, R.P. 1972. The distribution of types of bronze axes in Indonesia (Bulletin of the Archaeological Institute of the Republic of Indonesia 9). Jakarta: Bulletin of the Archaeological Institute of the Republic of Indonesia.Google Scholar
Soejono, R.P. 1977. Sistim-Sistim Penguburan Pada Akhir Masa Prasejarah di Bali. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta.Google Scholar
Swastika, I.M. 2008. Traces of human lifestyle from the Palaeolithic era to the beginning of the first century AD, in B. Hauser-Schäublin & I.W. Ardika (ed.) Burials, text and rituals: 159–75. Göttingen: Göttingen University Press.Google Scholar
Tim Jurusan Arkeologi. 1990–2006. Ekskavasi Arkeologi di Situs Sembiran/Pacung. Unpublished excavations reports, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar.Google Scholar
Tim Jurusan Arkeologi. 2004. Ekskavasi Arkeologi di Situs Pacung, Kecamatan Tejakula, Kabupaten Buleleng. Unpublished excavations report, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar.Google Scholar
Tomber, R. 2000. Indo-Roman trade: the ceramic evidence from Egypt. Antiquity 74: 624–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomber, R. 2002. Indian fine wares from the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Man and Environment 27 (1): 2631.Google Scholar
Tomber, R. 2008. Indo-Roman trade. From pots to pepper. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Wheeler, R.E.M., Ghosh, A. & Deva, K.. 1946. An Indo-Roman trading station on the east coast of India. Ancient India 2: 17124.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Calo supplementary material

Calo supplementary material 1

Download Calo supplementary material(File)
File 50.3 KB