From Flaked Glass to Iron and Bronze
We know of Sumatra's role in the evolution of modern humans. It's forested equatorial landscape has not preserved the same kinds of lake and river-laid deposits which have yielded so many early human fossils in the drier climatic zone of central and eastern Java. Early humans probably avoided the humid rainforests and instead occupied the fertile mountain valleys which run along Sumatra's mountainous spine. Perhaps one day their remains will be found, but so far the record is circumstantial.
-The earliest inhabitants
Sumatra, like Java, was joined by dry land to the Malay Peninsula for most of the past million years. Sea levels were generally lower, owing to the great volumes of water trapped in the Pleistocene glaciers. The western part of the Indonesian archipelago has only existed in its present form for the past 6,000 years and for brief intervals during the warmest interglacial periods; the previous interglacial occurred some 120,000 years ago.
Humans probably first entered Sumatra one million years ago across the land bridges of the Pleistocene era (1.6 million to thousand years ago). Archaeological evidence of human activity in Sumatra dates back only 10,000 years. Flake tools of a black volcanic glass called obsidian have been excavated from layers of this age in the cave of Tianko Panjang near Lake Kerinci.
But the most famous remains of the early, pre-agricultural period are gigantic middens of discarded marine shells, animal bones and stone tools once found (most are now destroyed) along the east coast plain between Lhokseumawe and Medan. Little is known of the people who made these mounds, but their skulls suggest that they were of Australomelanesian (similar to the native inhabitants of Australia and inland New Guine) instead of Mongoloid (East Asian) appearance. They hunted deer, pig, elephant, honey bear and rhinoceros and made their stone tools by flaking one side of a large oval river pebble. Their cultural re-mains are called "Hoabinhian." Similar materials dating back 4,000-13,000 years, but without such large shell middens, also occur in the Malay Peninsula, Thailand and vietnam.
-Austronesian agriculturalists
All the peoples of Sumatra speak Austronesian Lnguages. They are closely related biologically-all belonging to the "Southern Mongoloid" population which now occupies most of Southeast Asia. The Austronesian language family includes almost all indigenous languages of island Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands beyond the Solomons. Starting about 4,000 BC, Austronesian-speaking people began to spread southwards from Taiwan, reaching Sumatra around 2,500BC.
Most Sumatrans speak dialects of the Malay language, or very closely related languages such as Minangkabau. Languages outside this Malayic group include Gayo and Batak, and the languages spoken in the islands off Sumatra's west coast-Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai and Enggano.
Little archaeological research has been carried out in Sumatra-far too little to allow any useful statements to be made about the prehistoric relationships among these peoples. However, two important observations can be made. First, there is evidence from lakes and swamps in the highlands around Mt. Kerinci and Lake Toba that forest clearance, probably for agriculture, was underway at least 4,000 years ago-perhaps by as much as 7,000 years ago. The evidence comes from palynology: the study of pollens preserved in cores drilled from the ground. It is possible that this forest clearance reflects the arrival of Austronesian-speaking peoples in Sumatra, unless there were other (Austroasiatic-speaking?) agricultural peoples living there before them. This is still one of the big unknowns of the Sumatra past.
The second observation is that languages outside the Malayic group-Gayo and Batak, Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai and Enggano-probably represent localized descent from the initial Austronesian languages of southern Vietnam-may be an exception. But the Malayic languages, which also occur in Peninsular Malaysia and coastal Borneo, seem to reflect a later period of cultural and linguistic expansion, perhaps due to the rise of Srivijaya in the late 7th century. This Buddhist kingdom was focused around the area which is now Palembang in South Sumatra. The Malayic languages, therefore, may have replaced older Austronesian languages.
Malay is spoken along the entire eastern lowlands of the island south of Medan-even by the nomadic Kubu peoples. The Kubu foragers, who are of Southern Mongoloid origin, speak a language so closely related to their agricultural neighbors that it is possible that sometime in the recent past their ances tors turned from agriculture to foraging-a reverse of the most commonly-assumed direction of cultural development.
-The age of bronze and iron
Like Java, Sumatra has no detailed pre-Bronze Age archaeological record. Our picture for the island really only comes into focus from about 2,000 years ago, when knowledge of bronze casting and iron smelting arrived with the massive bronze drums of Vietnamese ("Dongson") origin.
These drums, with their elaborate surface decorations of boats, raised-floor houses, animals, birds and human warriors have been found at several places in Sumatra-some of these artifacts have been found near Lake Kerinci, in Lampung, in South Sumatra, and near Bengkulu.
The famous Batugajah stone in the Pasemah Highlands of South Sumatra shows a Dongson drum being carried on the back of a man who is apparently subduing an elephant. The BatuGajah stone was originally located near Pagaralam in West Sumatra, but is now kept in the museum in Palembang. This carved boulder is one of the fascinating complex of carved megalithic monuments found in the fields around Pagaralam. The bas-relief carvings on these stone monuments show men riding elephants or buffaloes, helmeted human heads, humans wrestling with snakes. There are also many stone mortars, which may have had ritual uses.
Massive underground tombs constructed of large slabs of rock have produced Metal Age artifacts such as glass beads and items made of bronze, iron, and even sometimes gold. Some were painted inside in red, black and white with schematic motifs of horned buffaloes, felines, monkey-like figures and humans. In one case two humans (or possibly a human and a giant cat) are shown holding a Dongson drum. Examples of these grave paintings can be seen in the National Museum in Jakarta. These megalithic carvings and slab stone graves were probably both made during the earlier part of the first millennium AD.
-The earliest inhabitants
Sumatra, like Java, was joined by dry land to the Malay Peninsula for most of the past million years. Sea levels were generally lower, owing to the great volumes of water trapped in the Pleistocene glaciers. The western part of the Indonesian archipelago has only existed in its present form for the past 6,000 years and for brief intervals during the warmest interglacial periods; the previous interglacial occurred some 120,000 years ago.
Humans probably first entered Sumatra one million years ago across the land bridges of the Pleistocene era (1.6 million to thousand years ago). Archaeological evidence of human activity in Sumatra dates back only 10,000 years. Flake tools of a black volcanic glass called obsidian have been excavated from layers of this age in the cave of Tianko Panjang near Lake Kerinci.
But the most famous remains of the early, pre-agricultural period are gigantic middens of discarded marine shells, animal bones and stone tools once found (most are now destroyed) along the east coast plain between Lhokseumawe and Medan. Little is known of the people who made these mounds, but their skulls suggest that they were of Australomelanesian (similar to the native inhabitants of Australia and inland New Guine) instead of Mongoloid (East Asian) appearance. They hunted deer, pig, elephant, honey bear and rhinoceros and made their stone tools by flaking one side of a large oval river pebble. Their cultural re-mains are called "Hoabinhian." Similar materials dating back 4,000-13,000 years, but without such large shell middens, also occur in the Malay Peninsula, Thailand and vietnam.
-Austronesian agriculturalists
All the peoples of Sumatra speak Austronesian Lnguages. They are closely related biologically-all belonging to the "Southern Mongoloid" population which now occupies most of Southeast Asia. The Austronesian language family includes almost all indigenous languages of island Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands beyond the Solomons. Starting about 4,000 BC, Austronesian-speaking people began to spread southwards from Taiwan, reaching Sumatra around 2,500BC.
Most Sumatrans speak dialects of the Malay language, or very closely related languages such as Minangkabau. Languages outside this Malayic group include Gayo and Batak, and the languages spoken in the islands off Sumatra's west coast-Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai and Enggano.
Little archaeological research has been carried out in Sumatra-far too little to allow any useful statements to be made about the prehistoric relationships among these peoples. However, two important observations can be made. First, there is evidence from lakes and swamps in the highlands around Mt. Kerinci and Lake Toba that forest clearance, probably for agriculture, was underway at least 4,000 years ago-perhaps by as much as 7,000 years ago. The evidence comes from palynology: the study of pollens preserved in cores drilled from the ground. It is possible that this forest clearance reflects the arrival of Austronesian-speaking peoples in Sumatra, unless there were other (Austroasiatic-speaking?) agricultural peoples living there before them. This is still one of the big unknowns of the Sumatra past.
The second observation is that languages outside the Malayic group-Gayo and Batak, Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai and Enggano-probably represent localized descent from the initial Austronesian languages of southern Vietnam-may be an exception. But the Malayic languages, which also occur in Peninsular Malaysia and coastal Borneo, seem to reflect a later period of cultural and linguistic expansion, perhaps due to the rise of Srivijaya in the late 7th century. This Buddhist kingdom was focused around the area which is now Palembang in South Sumatra. The Malayic languages, therefore, may have replaced older Austronesian languages.
Malay is spoken along the entire eastern lowlands of the island south of Medan-even by the nomadic Kubu peoples. The Kubu foragers, who are of Southern Mongoloid origin, speak a language so closely related to their agricultural neighbors that it is possible that sometime in the recent past their ances tors turned from agriculture to foraging-a reverse of the most commonly-assumed direction of cultural development.
-The age of bronze and iron
Like Java, Sumatra has no detailed pre-Bronze Age archaeological record. Our picture for the island really only comes into focus from about 2,000 years ago, when knowledge of bronze casting and iron smelting arrived with the massive bronze drums of Vietnamese ("Dongson") origin.
These drums, with their elaborate surface decorations of boats, raised-floor houses, animals, birds and human warriors have been found at several places in Sumatra-some of these artifacts have been found near Lake Kerinci, in Lampung, in South Sumatra, and near Bengkulu.
The famous Batugajah stone in the Pasemah Highlands of South Sumatra shows a Dongson drum being carried on the back of a man who is apparently subduing an elephant. The BatuGajah stone was originally located near Pagaralam in West Sumatra, but is now kept in the museum in Palembang. This carved boulder is one of the fascinating complex of carved megalithic monuments found in the fields around Pagaralam. The bas-relief carvings on these stone monuments show men riding elephants or buffaloes, helmeted human heads, humans wrestling with snakes. There are also many stone mortars, which may have had ritual uses.
Massive underground tombs constructed of large slabs of rock have produced Metal Age artifacts such as glass beads and items made of bronze, iron, and even sometimes gold. Some were painted inside in red, black and white with schematic motifs of horned buffaloes, felines, monkey-like figures and humans. In one case two humans (or possibly a human and a giant cat) are shown holding a Dongson drum. Examples of these grave paintings can be seen in the National Museum in Jakarta. These megalithic carvings and slab stone graves were probably both made during the earlier part of the first millennium AD.
