A Majapahit Discovery in Sidoarjo

Edi Tri Haryantoro fixed his gaze at a brick-walled ditch at a depth of three meters from the ground surface. Knee-deep water filled the ditch. "This is undoubtedly an ancient irrigation system," the senior archeologist from Mojokerto's cultural preservation center told Tempo on the spot at Urangagung village in Sidoarjo, East Java, late last November.

The structure walled off by red bricks in the middle of a paddy field was discovered on October 29, 2015. Sugiantono, a local farmer, found the structure while digging a well to water his mung bean plants. When he was digging at a depth of one meter, his hoe hit a mass of red bricks that were much bigger than regular bricks.