Halaman:Aspek-aspek arkeologi Indonesia No. 7.pdf/33

The habit of inserting porcelain dishes in walls is still found on some temples of Bali.

Among the heirlooms kept by Indonesians are often foreign ceramics. They receive the same treatment as krisses and lances: at set times they are taken out of their storage place and given a bath in water perfumed with flowers. The problem is now to ascertain; since when have foreign porcelain pieces been used for daily and ceremonial purposes in Indonesia? Does the presence of great numbers of porcelain sherds reveal the presence of Chinese or was it only because of the intensive trade with China? These questions will now be discussed.

CERAMICS WHICH CAN BE USED TO REVEAL THE PAST

Ceramics, when they are still whole pieces are-, of course, nice to behold, but they cannot tell us, where they were originally used in Indonesia after having arrived from abroad. I n the course of time they could have changed hands several times. In only a few places, such as South Sulawesi ceramic pieces have been dug out from the soil. Ceramic sherds, if found in great numbers on ancient sites, can also help to date the site and reveal certain aspects of economic or social life in the past. We have selected here three areas, where many ceramic sherds have been found and where actual research and excavations have been carried out. The areas are: A. South Sulawesi, B. Palembang and Riau and C the eastern part of the north coast of Central Java.

A. SOUTH SULAWESI

In 1948 Orsoy de Flines analysed ceramics and ceramics sherds found in several parts of South Sulawesi. Most of the finds could be dated from the 13th till the 18th century; one however, belonged to the period before the 10th century. In Bone bowls, boxes and dishes from East China and Thailand were found; they were manufactured in the 14th and 15th centuries. A small urn (half porcelain, oblong box ) was filled with the remains of bones. The urn came from Fu-kien, in the second half of the 16th century. In Watampone, 10 percent of the sherds were originally from finer pieces from Central- and Eastern China and comprised porcelain and porcelain- like earthenware from the 14th and 15th centuries of Lun Tsuan, old Te- hua, Yingtsing and Tsze Tseu. ” No ceramics for commoners” was his comment.¹⁶

A systematic excavation was carried out in 1970 by Uka Tjandrasasmita at Takalar. The dig was sponsored by a group of distinguished persons interested in the study of porcelain, several of whom later on joined or helped to found the Ceramic Society. Though not so many objects were found (the

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