Tambora culture
{{Short description|Lost village and culture on Sumbawa Island, Indonesia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{EngvarA|date=May 2021}}
Tambora is a lost city and culture on Sumbawa Island buried by volcanic ash and pyroclastic flows from the massive 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora. The city had about 10,000 residents. Scientists unearthing the site have discovered ceramic pots, bronze bowls, glass bottles, and homes and inhabitants buried by ash in a manner similar to that of Pompeii. The language of the culture was wiped out. The language appears to have been an isolate, the last survivor of the pre-Austronesian languages of central Indonesia. The city was visited by western explorers shortly before its demise. It is believed to have traded with Indochina, as Tambora pottery resembles that found in Vietnam.
2004 work
In summer 2004, a team from the University of Rhode Island, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and the Indonesian Directorate of Volcanology, led by Haraldur Sigurðsson, began an archaeological dig in Tambora. Over six weeks, the team unearthed the first evidence of a lost culture that had been obliterated by the Tambora eruption. The site is located about 25 km (15.5 mi) west of the caldera, deep in the jungle, 5 km (3 mi) from the shore. The team had to cut through a deposit of volcanic pumice and ash 3 m (10 ft) thick.
The team used a ground-penetrating radar to locate a small buried house. They excavated the house, where they found the remains of two adults, as well as bronze bowls, ceramic pots, iron tools and other artifacts. The design and decoration of the artifacts have similarities with artifacts from Vietnam and Cambodia. Tests conducted using a carbonization technique revealed they were composed of charcoal formed by the heat of the magma. The people and the house are preserved as they were in 1815. Sigurðsson dubbed it the Pompeii of the East.{{cite news|publisher=BBC News |title='Pompeii of the East' discovered|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4748902.stm|date= 28 February 2006|accessdate= 9 October 2006}}{{cite news|publisher=Bloomberg Asia|title=Indonesian Volcano Site Reveals 'Pompeii of the East' (Update1)|url= https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=agqrX3FIpeQU&refer=asia|date=28 February 2006| accessdate=9 October 2006}} Based on the artifacts found, which were mainly bronze objects, the team concluded that the people were not poor. Historical evidence indicates that people on Sumbawa island were known in the East Indies for their honey, horses,Jong Boers, B.D. de (2007), 'The 'Arab' of the Indonesian Archipelago:
The Famed Horse Breeds of Sumbawa' in: Greg Bankoff and Sandra Swart (eds), Breeds of Empire: The 'invention' of the horse in Southern Africa and Maritime Southeast Asia, 1500–1950. Copenhagen: NIAS Press, pp. 51–64. sappan wood for producing red dye,Jong Boers, BD de (1997), 'Sustainability and time perspective in natural resource management: The exploitation of sappan trees in the forests of Sumbawa, Indonesia (1500–1875)’, in Peter Boomgaard, Freek Colombijn en David Henley (eds), Paper landscapes; Explorations in the environmental history of Indonesia. Leiden: KITLV Press, pp. 260–81.
and sandalwood used for incense and medications.{{cite press release|title=URI volcanologist discovers lost kingdom of Tambora|publisher=University of Rhode Island|date= 27 February 2006|url= http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/index.php?id=3467 |accessdate=6 October 2006}} The area was thought to be highly productive agriculturally.
The archaeological findings suggest that there was a culture on Sumbawa that was wiped out by the 1815 eruption. The title Lost Kingdom of Tambora was coined by media.{{cite news |publisher=National Geographic|title= 'Lost Kingdom' Discovered on Volcanic Island in Indonesia| url= http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0227_060227_lost_kingdom.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060311064255/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0227_060227_lost_kingdom.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 11 March 2006 | date =27 February 2006|accessdate=9 October 2006}}{{cite news|work=International Herald Tribune|title='Lost kingdom' springs from the ashes|date=1 March 2006|accessdate=9 October 2006|url= http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/01/healthscience/snvolc.php}} With this discovery, Sigurðsson had planned to return to Tambora in 2007 to search for the rest of the villages, and hopefully to find a palace, but could not find ash shallow enough for excavation.[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307786615_Characterization_of_volcanic_deposits_and_geoarchaeological_studies_from_the_1815_eruption_of_Tambora_volcano "Characterization of volcanic deposits and geoarchaeological studies from the 1815 eruption of Tambora volcano"]. Researchgate. June 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.theguardian.com/indonesia/Story/0,,1720404,00.html Guardian article]
- [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/28/science/under-an-1815-volcano-eruption-remains-of-a-lost-kingdom.html New York Times article]
{{coord|8.25|S|118|E|display=title}}
Category:Precolonial states of Indonesia
Category:Archaeological cultures of Southeast Asia
Category:Archaeology of Indonesia