Hidden Treasures in Ancestral Lands

The Kalumpang site is an archaeologist's haven. Without having to dig too deeply, pottery, earthenware and broken stone tools have turned up. By measuring the age of these findings, they have concluded ancient Kalumpang was the starting point for the spread of Indonesia's ancestors throughout the archipelago around 3,800 years ago.

Ethnographic experts had earlier categorized Kalumpang as being part of the Toraja cultural stock because of the many cultural similarities. For instance, its practice of burying their dead in excavated holes in rock cliffs, their woven cloths and language. But results of the latest studies refute all that. The Kalumpang culture is now actually thought to be older. In fact, the Toraja culture itself could have its roots in ancient Kalumpang.

July 1, 2014