Book Review: Indonesian Megaliths: A forgotten cultural heritage, Tara Steimer Indonesia

Submitted by geo-org on Saturday, 18 July 2020 Page Views: 5283

Country: Indonesia

**Bada Valley Megaliths** submitted by IreneLR : A close up view of the facial features of the "Palindo" statue. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Georg writes: While doing some internet research on the Lore Lindu megaliths I came across a recent very nice book on megaliths in Indonesia from the Laboratory of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Geneva. It has Free Access so you can download it. As a resident of Indonesia I am always on the 'hunt' for information on megalithic sites, this is actually quite a difficult task, since they are either in Indonesian with little background information or research or on obscure websites and in many cases copied from various sources.So this book is a jewel, in an easy to read text covering the history and scale of the megalithic culture all over Indonesia.

It covere the world famous Lore Lindo landscape, but also Java, with Gunung Padang, Sumatra and the Eastern Islands of Sumba and Flores are described. According to the research the megaliths are the result of the cultural exchange between indigenous cultures and the Hindu-Budhist kingdoms dominating the trade in the region. The majority of them come from the 7th to 15th century AD.

The book is illustrated with many colourful pictures and gives a fascinating overview on various sites. I can highly recommend the download and reading it.

Here are the full details, including the link to the download:

Indonesian Megaliths: A forgotten cultural heritage highlights aspects of Indonesian culture which are currently misunderstood and sometimes threatened by destruction. Although they are relatively recent in origin, the Indonesian megaliths offer similarities to their counterparts in the Middle East and Arabia: they reflect the rise to prominence of local chiefs in a context of acculturation which prompted the need to build megalithic monuments to bury the dead, and to honour, commemorate and communicate with ancestors. In societies of oral tradition, these stones punctuate the landscape to transmit the memory of men and social structure from one generation to the next.

Based on scientific documents (articles, archaeological reports) and field visits, this new exploration clarifies various elements of the Indonesian megaliths, including their function in the daily life of the tribes and the use of certain stones for musical purposes (lithophony). In Nias, Sumba and Toraya, the megalith tradition is still alive and ethno-anthropological studies of these three regions provide a unique chance to complement the archaeological perspectives on megalithic monuments abandoned for several centuries in the rest of the Archipelago. The book includes numerous photographs documenting the monuments which were taken during the author’s stay in Indonesia (2010-2013).

Indonesian Megaliths: A forgotten cultural heritage by Tara Steimer.
Published by Archaeopress, 2018.
(Laboratoire d'archéologie préhistorique UNIGE)

Free download from here: https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:107467

Contributor Bio for geo-org: Based in Indonesia, contributing since 2018. Favourite site: Gunung Padang. Occupation: Forester.

<< Book Review: Of Mounds & Men, Prehistoric Barrows of the Frome Area - Mick Davis

Books/Products

Book review: Megalithic Finds in Central Celebes by Walther Kaudern 1917-1920 >>