bang. We visited Sungsang in July 1978. As regards Muara Takus (Bernet Kempers 1959 pi. 198), the brick temples we see now are not necessarily the same as those of the 7th century. The main compound could have been somewhere else, while in the 7th century one would expect wooden buildings for temples and monasteries. Again, even though Muara Takus were the sacred place for worship and pilgrimages, the capital was not necessarily there. In Java the capital of the 9th century Sailendra kingdom was perhaps not near the Borobudur but rather in the plains of Prambanan. In 14th century Majapahit, the royal palace was near Trowulan, while the king went to pray at sanctuaries in Malang and Blitar. Another possibility is that the capital of Sriwijaya was not always in the same place34)
C. THE NORTHEASTERN PART OF CENTRAL JAVA.
Orsoy de Flines wrote a report in Oudheidkundig Verslag 1941-1947 on research he carried out in 1940 in a few places of the Northeastern part of Central Java. The areas where the survey was made consisted of the Kabupatens of Blora, Rembang, Pati, Jepara, Kudus and Grobogan. These enquiries were the result of a request by Dr Stutterheim, who had become head of the Archaeological Service, in-order to examine the soil around the legendary area of Medang Kamulan (Medang) in the eastern part of Grobogan. The results were negative: there were only a few ceramic sherds of the 9th to the 10th century. Surprisingly, however, numerous sherds were found in the teak forest, datable from the end of the 8th till the 11th century.
In some villages in the same area there were many finds, in other places very few. The finds were sometimes Chinese and sometimes Annamese or Sawangkhalok. The sherds could be dated from the 9th to the 17th century, This evidence leads to the conclusion that the whole area had been inhabited for a long time. The problem of the age of these settlement, was taken up in 197535)A team comprising archaeologists from Indonesia and the U.S.A. carried out excavations in the area of Rembang. They examined 50 sites and made 40 collections of local and foreign ceramics. There were four groups of foreign ceramics: 1. late T’ang- Sung, 2. late Sung- Ming. 3. Ming and some Ch’ing, 4. Ch’ing and European.
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