Chapter Introduction Studies of material culture support research on relations between various groups of people and cultures and their environment Imported goods are used not only in daily activities but also to support attempts to acquire political power, and social and religious status Conclusions drawn from the study of material culture can be used to interpret the influence of external cultures upon local culture and the processes by which people adapt to new stimuli and conditions Therefore, a study of material culture helps in understanding cultural contact and also how people adapt to external influences However, cultural contact should not be viewed purely from the standpoint of contact between local and non-local culture intertwined with the environment Contacts and relations between groups of people in the local region and how they adapt to the environment, including responses to threats and dangers, are also important Geographical conditions must be taken into account in accounting for the movement of people and goods, and also for the growth of settlements and centers of activities In addition, a more detailed understanding of development in a region can be used to interpret the development of wider areas Travelers and traders have recorded much evidence for varied and specific cultural developments in Southeast Asia A combination of European and Chinese records is basic to the understanding of the Nanhai or Nanyang (South Seas-Southeast Asia) area However, historical sources alone are insufficient to define the relationship between migration and cultural development; archaeological research is of particular importance in this region Sa Huynh and Dong Son bronze technology (Bellwood 1985; 2000), Indian artifacts (beads, seals, religious statues), inscriptions in Sanskrit, Chinese goods such as silk, coins, and porcelain reached Southeast Asia through trade, which reached its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries when the Europeans became involved in a Southeast Asian trading network The development of settlements and states, especially along the coast, paralleled the increase in overseas transportation and trade links, and this development was recorded by European traders who reported their observations on ports (Cortesao 1944; Meilink-Roelofsz 1962, 1970; Sutherland and Bree 1987; Reid 1988; 1992, 1993a, 1993b; Nayati 1994; Tarling 1992) Forest products of the Indonesian Archipelago had become well known in Asia and Europe since the first century A.D at the latest (Cortesao 1944; Meilink-Roelofsz 1962; Wolters 1967; Hall 1981; 1992; Reid 1988, 1992b, 1993a, 1993b; Tarling 1992; Swalding 1996; Bulbeck, Reid, Tan and Wu 1998) Studies of migration and cultural contact have tended to emphasize the role of international trade and have neglected local economic systems Such economic systems, too, are often treated in isolation from local political and social systems, although such studies should clearly be interrelated (Binford 1996; Schortman and Urban 1996, Junker 1990a, 1990b, 1994) Economic systems seem to have been significantly intertwined with other systems, and trading networks should be seen also as including social and religious activities encompassing considerable political involvement of the elites Moreover, an economic system does not only affect people in political centers The existence of Buddhist candi in Sumatra, the Kutei Sanskrit inscription (Kalimantan Selatan) and the use of the title raja reinforce the conclusion that commercial activity is connected with cultural exchange The distribution of porcelain and Hindu-Buddhist symbols found in sites within Southeast Asia, especially in the Indonesian Archipelago, provides evidence of intensive contact in the late pre-European and early European contact periods (14th to 17th centuries) between coastal and interior peoples, such as the discovery of Buddhist images in south Sulawesi—at Sempaga (west coast of south Sulawesi, and Takalar (south coast of South Sulawesi—west of Bantaeng region), bronze drums in Kei island (Maluku) These objects were not found in modern administrative centers but in smaller settlements Archaeological evidence of contact and exchange can be found in many sites in Indonesia, each of which has distinctive features in terms of quantitative and qualitative data This evidence can be correlated with differences in intensity of contact, distance from main trade routes, time period, availability of socioeconomic networks, and character of the environment (Steward 1953, 1955; Renfrew 1975; Hughes 1977; Hutterer 1977; Gudeman 1986; Brumfiel and Earle 1987; Dora 1997) Different areas of the Archipelago experienced different levels of socioeconomic complexity because of many factors including local resource distribution and topography, which in turn affected the nature of contact with foreign traders Resources from the periphery were withdrawn for consumers in the centre (Miksic 1979; Champion 1989; Junker 1990a, 1990b; Peregrine 1996; Renfrew 1996; Swalding 1996) Contacts between resource-providing areas and outsiders who sought these resources have affected local cultures The role of the individual as the main agent of adaptation has also been very significant (Ellen 1982; Barret 2000; Brumfield 2000; Nayati 2001a) Political and ethnic boundaries are difficult to define archaeologically as similar archaeological assemblages can be found in different regions as a result of the movement of people across the land barriers Similar artifacts have been reported both in coastal and inland areas Chinese porcelain of the Indonesian Classic Period (8th to 15th centuries) has been found in temples in hinterland central Java (such as in Borobudur, Plaosan, Sewu) and Sumatra (Padang Lawas and Padang Roco) as well as lowland habitation sites in Sumatra (Jambi, Palembang, Riau, and Kota Cina) and Java (Trowulan) (Miksic 1979; McKinnon 1984; Atmosudiro and Nugrahani 2002) During the early Islamic Period, Chinese and Vietnamese porcelains were used as decoration in mosques in north coastal Java (Demak, Kudus) and south Sulawesi, and as decoration in Islamic graveyards in hinterland east Java and south Sulawesi In early Islamic capital cities, both in coastal and hinterland areas (such as Banten, Cirebon, Demak, Kotagede, Plered, Kartosura, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Trowulan, and Sumenep, Palembang, Jambi, Singkawang, Banjarmasin, Tenggarong, Gowa, Bone, Ternate, and Tidore), porcelain has also been recorded Porcelain is also found in settlements in South Sulawesi, Maluku, Irian (Papua), Lesser Sunda, Java, Kalimantan, and Sumatra The existence of porcelain of similar types and dates in different areas within the Indonesian Archipelago is proof that the movements of goods and people were not restricted by geographic, political, or ethnic boundaries In some areas, local religions blended with Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic religions to form new systems In other areas, local people had little contact with imported faiths Inland cultures in Indonesia have often been largely studied in the context of their political and social systems without acknowledging the economic systems involved The role of hinterland groups in distributing material culture has been generally neglected by previous generations of archaeologists What is interesting is that hinterland groups often remained culturally separate from lowlanders while uniting with them in a single complex economic network Indonesian archaeology has concentrated mainly on single sites Regional studies have been neglected Regional studies are necessary for understanding cultural evolution, because connections between sites and artifacts in different sites are not isolated, but are representatives of long-term processes and can provide data on many variables In future one hopes that more studies will concentrate on the connections between sites on different islands, and between coastal and hinterland regions Another deficit which this study hopes to ameliorate is the fact that archaeological study in Indonesia is still concentrated in Java Little archaeology has been done in Sumatra, Bali, Sulawesi and eastern Indonesia As a result, the archaeography of Indonesia is still mostly about pre-modern Java Indonesian children only study the history of sites in Java, such as Prambanan, Borobudur, Sangiran, mosques and churches Information on old churches in Ambon, or old mosques in Ternate, or such commodities as sandalwood and gaharu is not widely known In reality many east Indonesian commodities were important in the past, but it seems as if the achievements of east Indonesia are not worthy of comparison with Javanese culture Previous studies of capital cities in pre-modern Indonesia have attempted to understand urban physical and social structures but have not yet focused on the relations between the old capitals with their hinterlands, which presumably supported the life of the capital city Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Banten’s capital city has been examined as a center of political and economic activity (Nayati 1985; Guillot and Ambary 1990; Guillot, Nurhakim, Wibisono and Adhyatman 1996) Archaeological studies have been conducted at the capitals of Majapahit in Trowulan (Arifin 1983), and Mataram Islam kingdoms (Kotagede, Plered, Kartosura, Surakarta, and Yogyakarta (Nayati 1982; 1987; Adrisijanti n.d.) but studies of relations between centers and peripheries of kingdoms, as well as studies focusing on the periphery of a center, have not been undertaken Peripheries are not always far from the centers; some lie on their immediate outskirts Peripheries are significant potential objects for study since important resources came from the periphery, both directly and indirectly to the center (Champion 1989; Peregrine 1996; Kowalewski 1996; Finstein 1996) Lack of this kind of study in Indonesian archaeology can be related to the political conditions of the modern Archipelago, in which both politics and research have been highly centralized in Java and Sumatra since Independence in 1945 This inequality of emphasis in archaeological research results from the fact that the research activity has been controlled by the national archaeological research center (in Jakarta) and its branches (Balai Arkeologi or in short BALAR)1 while heritage site protection offices (Suaka Peninggalan Sejarah dan Purbakala or in short SPSP which in January 2003 were renamed Balai Pelestarian Peninggalan Sejarah dan Purbakala or BP3),2 which are more numerous than BALAR, only assume responsibility for protecting sites after research has been completed Limitation of professional staff availability also has resulted in imbalance between provinces and a concentration on Java since professional archaeologists mostly were born, trained, and employed in Java Limitations of budgets and difficulties of interisland transportation also have influenced the dominant position of Java in Indonesian archaeology Many outer islands in Indonesia are now experiencing political problems (West Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, Maluku, Papua, and Aceh), which has made the gap wider and wider There are eight BALAR offices: Bandung, Yogyakarta, Denpasar, Makassar, Banjarmasin, Manado, Palembang, and Medan Recently a few professional Indonesian archaeologists who live in Java have conducted excavations on the outer islands: Sumijati Atmosudiro (1994) worked on Nusa Tenggara Timur, Sony Wibisono (1984) worked in Selayar, Daud Aris Tanudirjo, Mahirta, and Karina Arifin have been doing research respectively on Sangihe-Talaud, Roti, East Kalimantan, and this author in southeast Maluku (Nayati 1998) The gap in archaeological study in the outer islands of Indonesia has been filled to some extent by foreign archaeologists such as Miksic (1979), McKinnon (1984), Bellwood et all (1976, 1985, 1997, 1998, 2000), Bulbeck (1987, 1992, 1996/1997; 1998, 2000c), Bulbeck, Pasqua, lello 2000; Bulbeck and Caldwell 2000; Veth, Spriggs, and O’Connor (1996, 1997, 2000), Lape (2000), and Latinis (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000) In Java, regional studies are still not applied widely either Environmental archaeological studies have been conducted in old royal capitals (Majapahit and Banten) and in rock shelters in Gunung Kidul (Yogyakarta) In Trowulan, research has taken the form of intensive survey aimed at using the distribution of material culture to draw inferences regarding land use within the city A study which attempted to connect coastal, and hinterland areas of Majapahit was conducted in Medowo, a site interpreted as one of Majapahit’s ports (Kusumohartono 1990) However the study concentrated on an attempt to define Medowo’s characteristics rather than its connections with the center at Trowulan, or with other peripheral areas of the kingdom Locational analysis has not yet been applied to archaeological research in Indone- There are 10 SPSP, located in: West Sumatra-Riau provinces in Padang, Jambi and Bengkulu provinces in Jambi, West Java, Banten, and Lampung provinces in Serang, DI Yogyakarta in Kalasan, Central Java in Klaten, East Java in Trowulan, Bali-NTB-NTT in Denpasar, Papua in Jayapura, South and Southeast Sulawesi provinces in Makassar sia This could also be related to the lack of financial support available for archaeology, since regional-scale research requires significant funding Regional study in Indonesian archaeology is needed to begin to examine numerous questions, which can only be answered by research beyond the site level Indications of what such an approach might achieve in relation to the connections between hinterland sites have been given by such studies as Bulbeck in South Sulawesi (1992) and on coastalhinterland relations such as Miksic’s (1979), Drakard (1982, 1990), and Andaya (1993a) in Sumatra Moreover, archaeological study on inter-island relationships: between small islands, between large islands, and between small and large islands, is another type of relationship which should be examined since it is known that all these types of relationships played parts in early trading networks (Andaya 1991; Leirissa 1994, 2000; Swadling 1996) So, understanding of complex economic network is important to be studied Bantaeng region of South Sulawesi (Indonesia) is an interesting area to be examined this sites have been studied by many students from Hasanudin University, Indonesia Archaeological office and foreign scholars However this site is still unreconstruct especially their local economic networks Geographic Models in Regional Archaeology Geographical models, especially central place and dendritic models, show significant potential for reconstructing socio-economic systems within hinterlands, where historical data is often absent, and between hinterland and coastal areas (Haggett 1966; Crumley 1976; Haggett, Cliff and Frey 1977; Bradford and Kent 1977; Champion 1989) The central place model is similar to the core-periphery model, which emphasizes the role of the core in controlling periphery areas located beside and close to core or central areas The main focus of the central place/core-periphery model is on the relationship between core and periphery The dendritic model emphasizes the relationship between areas of contrasting transport potential and population density, such as land and sea, or mountains, hinterlands, and flat coastal areas, which favors the development of dendritic or branching patterns of transport and communication typical of river systems A condition of this model is that the producers have only one possible outlet for their produce due to transport limitations The producers located upriver bring down their commodities to trading or collecting centers at the intersections of rivers From there other people bring them down to other higher-level centers located at other nodes of river transport, and eventually the commodities reach the highest-level center located on the coast—at the mouth of a river (Bronson 1977) Bronson (1977) noted that central trading sites on coasts have potential competitors at other trading centers on different rivers A condition of the model is that people who live in one river system cannot travel to other river drainages to market their products Miksic (1985) argued that this model was not applicable to the Sumatran case in the Indonesian Classical period, because there is evidence that people were able to walk across the watersheds to other drainages to sell their products, thus obtaining potentially better prices It is however possible that in smaller watersheds than the Musi and Batanghari of South and central Sumatra, dendritic systems did appear The implications of this model for political organization are important The dendritic system is normally associated with dominance of the periphery by the core, which has a monopolistic position in the marketing system Demonstration that a dendritic pattern existed in a particular place during a particular historical era would imply the existence of certain political institutions as well The dendritic pattern is associated with colonial resource extraction, for example The central place/core-periphery model emphasizes the autonomy (whether political or economic) of the hinterland, whereas the dendritic model stresses the political and economic dependence of the hinterland on the coastal area Those two models can also be applied to wider geographical conditions So, the periphery area of a hinterland core can include islands The central place model (CPM) can be used to account for inter-hinterland, intercoastal and inter-island relationships, depending on the scale of the phenomena under study The dendritic model can be used to understand competition between trading centers both on the same coastline and on different islands In theory, there is no reason why central place/core-periphery and dendritic models could not be used to understand different networks of relations in the same area A kind of economic “dualism” may in fact emerge, according to which some kinds of interaction may be best explained by the CPM model, while the dendritic model may best explain others It is not necessary to assume that they are mutually exclusive Analysis of interaction between CPM and dendritic models will definitely assist the archaeologist who is attempting to reconstruct patterns of political and economic dominance in areas for which historical sources are inadequate to reach such conclusions Research therefore are: to locate ancient centers; to examine the history of the development of spatial systems in south Sulawesi in order to 10 49 50 51 Macassarese, while the latter is Buginese Consequently, it can be assumed that there were two main political organizations in Bantaeng—one on the Binanga Tangnga-Tangnga, which is inferred to be Macassarese; and one on the Biangkeke, which was based on Buginese tradition Intensive research has been conducted at and between those two rivers The old sites have, typically, a round or square type of settlement pattern and are built on flat areas in the hills, located along two river systems, characteristics which can assist us in deciphering the settlement area and land usage Areas adjacent to these sites were investigated closely in order to identify their catchment areas, which are locations where people obtain their water supplies for their daily needs These areas were intensively studied as a check with the archaeological excavations to obtain data on the different functions of settlement and land use Furthermore, an investigation of burial anomalies was made in order to check the distribution of burial goods, which has made possible an interpretation of burial systems in the past The area between Binanga Tangnga-Tangnga and Salo Biangkeke was studied in order to identify the possibility of socio-political relations between these river systems The settlements between two rivers (Binanga Tangnga-Tangnga and Salo Biangkeke) were also studied intensively in order to obtain data on communication between communities along those two rivers, using observation and interviews with the local inhabitants Sometimes, Saukang means sacred center and sacred site Tomanurung or Tumanurung or To Manurung literally means the person who descended from the heaven It refers to heavenly ancestors of pure white blood who were recognized and installed as the first rulers of new kingdoms by the people of south Sulawesi in the past Tomanurung belief is common in south Sulawesi (Noorduyn 1965; Andaya 1875; Matulada 1985; Pelras 1985; Caldwell 1988; Cummings 1999, 2000; 2002) 52 Market places were not checked by excavation because, based on a surface survey, there is no indication of material culture remains, as the trading center only acts as an arena for trading activities Most of the merchandise is removed from the market places after trading hours Recent breakage of earthenware has been concentrated near the earthenware stall, but this anomaly is not always found in each trading center, as earthenware traders take good care of their merchandise However, market places have been ethnographically observed in order to record trading activity, the flow of people, and the trading goods Accumulation of these data will help us to infer the trading patterns and the relations between settlements and people within the Bantaeng region in the past Ethnographic data on trading is used for analogy in understanding the past trading activities in the Bantaeng region in interactions with adjacent areas The correlations between archaeological sites and Table 1: Distribution of archaeological sites within Bantaeng region Sites Batu Ejaya District Bissapu Elevation 314 m ASL Benteng Batu Terang Bissapu 103 m ASL Sinowa Uluere 485 m ASL Borong Toa Uluere 660 m ASL Onto Bantaeng 450 m ASL Lembang Gantarangkeke Banyorang 295 m ASL Gantarangkeke Banyorang 240 m ASL Borong Kapala Banyorang 415 m ASL Bantaeng City Bantaeng 25 m ASL Source: Nayati 2000 53 trading centers have been examined in order to reconstruct the economic pattern in the Bantaeng region The distribution of cultural finds within the Bantaeng region implies contact between local people as craft activity such as pottery-making is not attested in the past for the Bantaeng region (Nayati, 2000), however others assumed almost certainly that pottery has made in Bantaeng in the past Further testing on it should be done, especially study the soil material of Bantaeng Known archaeological sites represent several tiers of a settlement hierarchy: the urban area (Bantaeng), villages (Onto, Sinowa, Lembang Gantarangkeke, Gantarangkeke), and as ladang/garden, rainfeed field (Batu Ejaya, Benteng Batu Terang, Borong Toa, Borong Kapala) The change in land-use pattern and the cultural findings indicate changing patterns at particular times in history in the Bantaeng region These changes allow us to identify chronological phases: the pre-ceramic, the Tomanurung including the ceramics period, the Colonial period, and the post-Independence period Ethnographical study is also necessary because trading activity can be seen as a system of behavioral actions It is not possible to identify the precise motive of every exchange or the exact function of the goods traded as these could vary individually Moreover, the exchange goods can be transferred from hand to hand without leaving any record The local goods and cash can shift to other people’s hands without the first party’s knowledge The only trade objects now surviving are mostly long lasting goods On account of the nature of the activity, ethnographic study is necessary While the study of current trading activity will be used to infer the activity of trading networks in the past—by using an ethnoarchaeological approach—this can only be done with the understanding that trading activity has not always been the same over 400 years as the 54 culture and needs of people may have seen considerable change Therefore, ethnographical and archaeological comparisons with other sites are needed Research in the literature is essential to support other points made about cultural life Literary sources may reveal not merely the trading activity but some details, which report or infer contact with other groups, whether local, regional, or international, as exchange activity can affect many aspects of cultural life Thus there is a wide range of data which can assist us in reconstructing the trading network within the Bantaeng region Archaeological research, in particular, may provide data on non-local goods and human bones It is important to understand the distribution of artifacts, which can assist us in developing an accurate picture of landuse, the function of landscape and site, and the possibility of contact between people in the Bantaeng region and outside Bantaeng region Most important of all, the findings derived during excavation can help in clarifying the association of the artifacts found and dating the sites A combination of all these data can produce a useful interpretation of the local trading activity of Bantaeng over the centuries It can elucidate how the local network operated and how people adapted to historical changes, such as the development of the long-distance trading network in the region, the rise of the kingdoms of Gowa and Bone and the effect of the war between them, and the consequences of the trading monopoly of the VOC 55 Problems Encountered in the Field and the Laboratory A range of problems, both anticipated and unanticipated, affected the progress of this research project The study had to be completed in a very limited period of time,7 but it did produce some significant data for reconstructing the past Observation and surveys were undertaken in April 2000 in order to identify concentrations of material culture Limitations of time, finances, and cultural circumstances did place constraints on further research, especially research involving archaeological excavation Nevertheless, those sites have been excavated both in archaeological terms and in terms of the looting excavation system in October 2000 Data consisted of both archaeological data (artifacts and ecofacts) and ethnographical data So although the two months for fieldwork in the Bantaeng region and one month of data analyses was a very limited time, the actual data collected is sufficient to develop an understanding of the local trading network in the Bantaeng area in the past Second, some anomalies seen in the Bantaeng region could not be tested because of cultural, religious, and financial reasons The local people are aware that illegal looters from Bantaeng city, who then obtained much money from selling the imported ceramics, have disturbed their land and gold items (jewelry and masks) found on their land Local people have gained very little compared to the looters Consequently, some local inhabitants have Under NUS regulations, the maximum duration for fieldwork for a PhD is six months However, in my case, the first three months were used for my initial research topic—trading networks in Southeast Maluku, Indonesia This project had to be cancelled since political turmoil, which had arisen in Maluku made it impossible to continue excavation activity Consequently, the fieldwork for research in Bantaeng, South Sulawesi was limited to three months, consisting of one month for surface survey, one month for excavation, and one month for artifact analyses In practice, the fieldwork activity was pursued in less than one month as administration and dealing with local people (especially looters) took time My fieldwork activities were partly supported by the Lee Foundation Singapore and by individual financing 56 begun to try to retrieve and sell the artifacts themselves, asking big amounts of money in return For these reasons the local people were not receptive toward the proposed archaeological excavations This emotional situation not only affected the archaeological excavation but some also rejected requests to be interviewed Some groups asked for considerable sums of money as compensation for the further disturbance of their land and the collection of artifacts, requests which could not be met with the limited budget available to this project On the other hand, some people are still practicing traditional ceremonies and, therefore, they not want their sacred areas to be examined by outsiders While much of the material culture is now missing, some may still be found in sites where ceremonies are still held Although it was only possible to collect a minimum of data, this still has considerable potential for understanding the economic system of the Bantaeng region Third, signs of historical contact between people identified through analysis of artifacts are often difficult to interpret Artifacts which could serve as archaeological data have became commodities Most artifacts found in the 1960s-1980s by looters have been sold, unrecorded, to people outside South Sulawesi Looters have ransacked all (old) sites within the Bantaeng region and adjacent areas of Selayar, Bulukumba, Jeneponto and Takalar Several key players in the trade of artifacts, including Mr Bustamin Nyios, Mr Habibu alias Bibu, Mr Karaeng Bancing alias Samparak G., Mr Haji Doding, and Mr Haji Muhammad A.D alias Haji Tojeng, provided some information and their own artifact collections have been used for identification of types of finds within Bantaeng and adjacent areas However while the looters have taken unbroken artifacts (porcelain, metals—iron, bronze, gold— and beads), they did not take human bones, as they are afraid that the soul 57 of the dead will follow and haunt them and their families During the process of illegal looting, having broken some artifacts, especially porcelain and human bones, the looters typically return the soil as soon as possible, together with broken porcelain and bones The broken artifacts at first had no value but by the 1980s the looters began to collect the broken artifacts and sell them—both in small pieces and reconstruct it using glue Thus, based on the attitude of these illegal looters, there are still some possibilities of dating the sites using the human bones, and the rituals of the burial system can to some extent be inferred, especially by the orientation of the body and through the ex looters’ memory of burial goods As the goods have sold directly to the middlemen for cash, the ex looters not have any of the goods on them anymore Perhaps, the middlemen and souvenir shops’ owner (in Makassar) have pictured some of the goods (however those are not insitu and no association data on it) for promoting their goods to the consumers However, they did say nothing about it If they have albums of pictures of their artifacts, it could these albums use as an archaeological archive and important for reconstruct part of the Sulawesi history Fourth, because of the disturbance of the landscape and the negative reactions of the local people caused by the activities of the looters, there are considerable limitations on the sites available for valid examination Although intensive and systematic8 methods of looting have been carried out, because the looters necessarily worked in a hurry—as some of them have caught and arrested—there are still some unexcavated sites and materials left, which can be used to assist in recognizing disturbed and undisturbed landscapes Some difficulties still remain, however, as looting activities were conducted over a long period and so it is difficult to find any undisturbed areas which could be used for archaeological checking 58 Moreover, the observation and excavation activities are further limited by the fact that many old sites have been continuously occupied up to the present Fifth, cultural development and cultural constraints created difficulties in undertaking and interpreting systematic archaeological excavation It was possible to conduct excavations in most of the old settlements, with the exception of Batu Ejaya and Onto, in October 2000 Most of Batu Ejaya’s surface has been covered with concrete, whereas Onto, during October 2000, was preparing a cultural festival, which made it impossible to archaeological excavation Moreover, certain anomalies, which had been observed in Bantaeng city and Lembang Gantarangkeke, could not be checked due to population density in the city and financial reasons Nevertheless, 58 test pits were opened, using conventional archaeological methodology combined with the looter system—digging the soil in trench system without recording, especially association between findings, position, and soil stratification The archaeological excavations were based on a box system (1 x meter or x meter), and a spit system with intervals every 20 cm depth A further extension of the box system was feasible, depending on the finds Recording during excavation was done in detail, as excavation is meant to disturbed the landscape Ethnographic study in the Bantaeng region yielded no indication of local industry or crafts9, so all material culture found is assumed to be of non-local origin Moreover, as Bantaeng has long been located on a long-distance trade network as well as a local trading network, it is probable that many types of imported commodities are to be found in this region However no further laboratory work on the findings, such as ceramic petrology, was In this case, systematic means organized methods of looting Some group of looters opened whole ladangs trench by trench, while other groups excavated areas where they predicted old burials lay 59 possible because of financial limitations Basic typologies have been created for the ceramics, metal, stone, and bones recovered The eastern part of Indonesia is not remote, but the high costs and limited transport options by comparison with western regions of Indonesia, especially Java, have resulted in the neglect of archaeological research in this area Eastern Indonesia consists of 11 provinces — not including the island of Kalimantan — and covers an area that is more than 60% of the Indonesian nation Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) has been ethnographically studied but fewer than 10 archaeological and historical projects have been undertaken there, and most of these have been only partial studies, in terms of periodization or topics A similar situation is to be found in the Maluku islands and Lesser Sunda, which form the Nusa Tenggara Timur and Nusa Tenggara Barat provinces While Bali and Sulawesi Island are better covered by archaeological research than islands in the eastern part of Indonesia, they are still less studied than Java The eastern part of Indonesia should be treated differently as those provinces consists of islands of different sizes and topography, and the development of those areas is unequal compared not only to Java but also between different parts of the same island Contact between them and the outside sometimes is very difficult as transportation is limited and costly Consequently, the study of the local trading system in Bantaeng region is quite important and, although it is a study of only a single area, the findings can be used for further and broader studies There are no basketweavers, iron smiths, or potters in the Bantaeng region There is no evidence that any of these activities were ever conducted in Bantaeng, but it is impossible to prove that this is also true of the period before 1600 However house-building remains one of the local crafts which is still carried on 60 South Sulawesi province has attracted a concentration of cultural studies Research on Buginese, Makassarese, Toraja, Bajau and Mandar abounds, especially in ethnographical and historical studies Lontaraq have been studied, especially for the Gowa, Bone, and Luwu centers (Caldwell 1988; Cummings 1999, 2000, 2002; Rachman et all 2003) While many Lontaraq have been recorded, only a few experts can read and interpret this material competently Recently Caldwell, Bougas, and Druce have intensively studied the Lontaraq of Jeneponto Nevertheless, Lontaraq from small political organizations such as Bantaeng have not been studied and are still scattered in the hands of royal families Thus documentary research in the Bantaeng region is one of the important challenges for any comprehensive study of South Sulawesi culture There were important key persons on Bantaeng Lontaraq: Andi Massuale passed away before this research was conducted and his Lontaraq’ collection is not accessible Mappatan before he passed away in September 2000 handed in his collection which is the only Lontaraq used in this study Material cultures of the area have been examined carefully using single and multidisciplinary studies One of the findings is that South Sulawesi formed a melting pot for the assimilation of Islamic culture into the culture of the previous period Nevertheless, evidence for the dissemination of Hindu-Buddhist culture in Sulawesi has not yet been clearly established In contrast, looters have worked rapidly so that huge numbers of unrecorded items of material culture have been taken from the island of Sulawesi, which represents a considerable loss of historical data on the pre-Islamic period Finally, limitations of budget and research time have made it impossible to check and compare sites within South Sulawesi, or undertake intensive laboratory work on all the archaeological data collected Moreover, disturbed soil has impeded interpretation These 61 limitations are, to some extent, covered by ethnographical study, which mostly was done during the fieldwork period It was not possible to augment the ethnographic data with historical studies Local offices open from am to 1.30 pm, but the officers only arrive after am as the offices are located outside Makassar city, and public transportation especially to those offices are limited Requests for archival materials required several hours to complete and only three documents could be requested each time; the effective reading period is only two to three hours daily as the documents have to be returned at 12.30 pm As a result, it has not been possible to incorporate as much historical data in this study as one would have preferred In order to elucidate the written historical data, oral history combined with Lontaraq possessed by Mappatan has been explored Ethnographic and oral history is then used for inferring the past, especially for the trading activities Study of the local trading system of Bantaeng can be used to test the relative applicability of two models: central place and dendritic models These two models have been chosen from spatial systems of distribution (Smith 1974; 1975) Rings, Networks, and Section models have not been applied nor has the solar system been chosen, as no production center has been found in Bantaeng The central place model is static, but has been successfully applied in understanding economic organization in complex society (Smith 1974), especially when connections exist between both vertical and horizontal levels of the marketing, transport, and settlement hierarchies It has been proposed that dendritic models might be applicable (Bronson 1977; Kathiritamby-Wells 1998; Andaya 1993b) Those two models can be tested with data from the Bantaeng region One possibility is that neither of those two models is suitable in understanding the local trading system in Bantaeng; an alternative or hybrid model might be more 62 relevant It is also possible that the changes in social organization between the different historical periods were at least sometimes correlated with changes in hierarchies of settlement, trade, ritual, or political power If changes are observed, variables responsible for these changes must be sought The research under discussion here must therefore address the problem of mechanisms of cultural contact, which might have been responsible for changes in one or more hierarchies of spatial organization This study will also seek to reconstruct environmental conditions, settlement patterns, political, religious, and cultural settings and cultural changes that might have been responsible for the occurrence and influence of cultural contact between people through the exchange of goods 63 ... (Haggett 19 66; Fox 19 77; Baker 19 78; Carr 19 84; Hietala 19 84; Hyslop 19 84, 19 91; Gilman 19 87; Junker 19 90b; Earle 19 91; Gorenstein and Pollard 19 91; Hage and Harary 19 91; Hirth 19 91; Beteille 19 94;... busy international network of trading in spices in the Maluku islands and also in local trading activity (Andaya 19 84, 19 93a, 19 93b; Evers 19 88, 19 91; Leiriza 19 94) The involvement of the VOC in. .. (Cortesao 19 44; Meilink-Roelofsz 19 62; Wolters 19 67; Hall 19 81; 19 92; Reid 19 88, 19 92b, 19 93a, 19 93b; Tarling 19 92; Swalding 19 96; Bulbeck, Reid, Tan and Wu 19 98) Studies of migration and cultural