Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T07:12:34.023Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Trans-Asiatic exchange of glass, gold and bronze: analysis of finds from the late prehistoric Pangkung Paruk site, Bali

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2020

Ambra Calo*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Australia
Peter Bellwood
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University, Australia
James Lankton
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK
Andreas Reinecke
Affiliation:
German Archaeological Institute, Bonn, Germany
Rochtri Agung Bawono
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Udayana University, Indonesia
Bagyo Prasetyo
Affiliation:
National Centre for Archaeological Research, Jakarta, Indonesia
*
*Author for correspondence: ✉ ambra.calo@anu.edu.au

Abstract

Excavations at the stone sarcophagus burial site of Pangkung Paruk on Bali have yielded the largest collection of Roman gold-glass beads in early Southeast Asia found to date, together with elaborate gold ornaments and two Han Chinese bronze mirrors. Unprecedented in Island Southeast Asia, these artefacts find parallels at Oc Eo in Vietnam, at other sites in the Mekong Delta and on the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Analyses of these new finds and comparison with others from across the region provide insights into the early to mid first-millennium AD trans-Asiatic networks that linked Southeast Asia to South Asia, the Roman world and China.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anggraeni. 1999. The introduction of metallurgy into Indonesia: a comparative study with special reference to Gilimanuk. Unpublished MA dissertation, Australian National University.Google Scholar
Ardika, I.W. & Bellwood, P.. 1991. Sembiran: the beginning of Indian contact with Bali. Antiquity 65: 221–32. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00079679CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basa, K.K. 1992. Early historic glass beads in Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, in Glover, I. (ed.) Southeast Asian archaeology 1990. Proceedings of the Third Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists: 85102. Hull: University of Hull.Google Scholar
Bellwood, P. 2017. First islanders. Hoboken (NJ): Wiley Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, A.T.N. 2009. Gold in early Southeast Asia. ArcheoSciences 33: 99107. https://doi.org/10.4000/archeosciences.2072CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bintarti, D.D. 1985. Analisis fungsional nekara perunggu dari Lamongan, Jawa Timur (Pertemuan Ilmiah Arkeologi III): 8191. Jakarta: Proyek Penelitian Purbakala.Google Scholar
Borell, B., Bellina, B. & Chaisuwan, B.. 2014. Contacts between the upper Thai-Malay Peninsula and the Mediterranean world, in Revire, N. & Murphy, S.A. (ed.) Before Siam: essays in art and archaeology: 98117. Bangkok: River.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51: 337–60. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200033865CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bui, C.H. 2008. The Phu Chanh site: cultural evolution and interaction in the later prehistory of southern Vietnam. Bulletin of the Indo-Prehistory Association 28: 6772. https://doi.org/10.7152/bippa.v28i0.12017Google Scholar
Calo, A. 2014. Trails of bronze drums across early Southeast Asia: exchange routes and connected cultural spheres. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar
Calo, A. et al. 2015. Sembiran and Pacung on the north coast of Bali: a strategic crossroads for early trans-Asiatic exchange. Antiquity 89: 378–96. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2014.45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casson, L. 1989. The Periplus Maris Erythraei: text with introduction, translation, and commentary. Princeton (NJ): Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Demandt, M. 2016. Early gold ornaments of Southeast Asia: production, trade and consumption. Asian Perspectives 54: 306–29. https://doi.org/10.1353/asi.2016.0000CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dussubieux, L. 2001. L'Apport do l'Ablation Laser Couple a l'ICP-MS a l'etude du verre archeologique de l'Ocean Indien. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Universite d'Orleans.Google Scholar
Dussubieux, L. & Bellina, B.. 2017. Glass from an early Southeast Asian producing and trading centre, in Bellina, B. (ed.) Khao Sam Kaeo: an early port city between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea (Memoires Archeologiques 28): 549–85. Paris: École Française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Dussubieux, L. & Gratuze, B.. 2003. Nature et origine des objets en verre retrouvés à Begram (Afghanistan) et à Bara (Pakistan), in Bopearachchi, O., Landes, C. & Sachs, C. (ed.) De l'Indus à l'Oxus: archéologie de l'Asie Centrale: 315–23. Lattes: Association imago-musée de Lattes.Google Scholar
Edwards McKinnon, E. 1994. The Sambas hoard: bronze drums and gold ornaments found in Kalimantan in 1991. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 67: 928.Google Scholar
Francis, P. 1991. Glass beads in Malaya: a reassessment. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 64: 97118.Google Scholar
Freestone, I.C., Degryse, P., Lankton, J., Gratuze, B. & Schneider, J.. 2018. HIMT, glass composition and commodity branding in the primary glass industry, in Rosenow, D., Phelps, M., Meek, A. & Freestone, I.C. (ed.) Things that travelled: Mediterranean glass in the first millennium CE: 159–90. London: UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt21c4tb3.14CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gede, I.D.K. 2009a. Ekskavasi Penyelamatan Desa Pangkung Paruk. Laporan Penelitian Arkeologi (Archaeological Report 4). Denpasar: Balai Arkeologi Denpasar.Google Scholar
Gede, I.D.K. 2009b. Budaya Penguburan Pra-Hindu, Pangkung Paruk. Forum Arkeologi 2: 112–30.Google Scholar
Gratuze, B. 2018. Analyses chimiques, contribution à l’étude des verres décolorés à l'antimoine produits entre le Iers et la fin du IIIes de notre ère: nouvelles données analytiques, in Foy, D., Labaune-Jean, F., Leblond, C., Martin Pruvot, C., Marty, M.-T., Massart, C., Munier, C., Robin, L. & Roussel-Ode, J. (ed.) Verres incolores de l'Antiquité romaine en Gaule et aux marges de la Gaule (Roman Archaeology 42): 350–82. Oxford: Archaeopress.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gratuze, B., Lankton, J., Alam, S. & Boussac, M.-F.. 2015. Glass beads from Mahastan: evidence for production and exchange, in Salles, J.-F. (ed.) Mahastan II Fouilles du Rempart Est: études archéologiques: 357–74. Turnhout: Brepols.Google Scholar
Hogg, A.G. et al. 2013. SHCal13 southern hemisphere calibration, 0–50 000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55: 1889–903. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16783CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Indradjaya, A. 2011. The pre-Srivijaya period on the eastern coast of Sumatra: preliminary research at the Air Sugian site, in Tjoa-Bonatz, M.-L., Reinecke, A. & Bonatz, D. (ed.) Connecting empires and states: selected papers from the 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists (volume 2): 3242. Singapore: NUS.Google Scholar
Lam, T.M.D. 2009. Sa Huynh regional and inter-regional interactions in the Thu Bon Valley, Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 29: 6875. https://doi.org/10.7152/bippa.v29i0.9480Google Scholar
Lankton, J.W. & Dussubieux, L.. 2006. Early glass in Asian maritime trade: a review and an interpretation of compositional analyses. Journal of Glass Studies 48: 121–44.Google Scholar
Lankton, J.W. & Dussubieux, L.. 2012. Early glass in Southeast Asia, in Janssens, K. (ed.) Modern methods for analysing archaeological and historic glass: 413–39. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Lankton, J.W. & Gratuze, B.. 2019. Suvarnabhumi in the first century CE: the glass evidence, in Pongpanich, B. (ed.) Suvarnabhumi: the golden land: 6877. Bangkok: Geo-Informatics and Space Development Agency.Google Scholar
Lankton, J.W., Dussubieux, L. & Gratuze, B.. 2008. Glass from Khao Sam Kaeo: transferred technology for an early Southeast Asian exchange network. Bulletin de l’École Française d'Extrême-Orient 93: 317–51. https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2006.6041CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malleret, L. 1948. L'art et la metallurgie de L'Etail dans la Culture D'Oc-Eo. Artibus Asiae 2: 272–84. https://doi.org/10.2307/3248039Google Scholar
Malleret, L. 1961. Les Dodecaedres d'Or du site d'Oc-eo. Artibus Asiae 24: 343–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/3249235CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malleret, L. 1962. L'archeologie du Delta du Mekong. Paris: École Française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Manguin, P.-Y. 2004. The archaeology of early maritime polities of Southeast Asia, in Glover, I. & Bellwood, P. (ed.) Southeast Asia: from prehistory to history: 282313. London & New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Manguin, P.-Y. & Indradjaya, A.. 2011. The Batujaya site: new evidence of early Indian influence in west Java, in Manguin, P.-Y., Mani, A. & Wade, G. (ed.) Early interactions between South and Southeast Asia: reflections on cross-cultural exchange: 113–36. Singapore: ISEAS. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789814311175-008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, J. 1975. Taxila (volume III). Delhi: Motilalal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Miksic, J.N. 1991. Old Javanese gold. Singapore: Ideation.Google Scholar
Nguyen, K.D. 2017. The Sa Huynh Culture in ancient regional trade networks: a comparative study of ornaments, in Piper, P.J., Matsumura, H. & Bulbeck, D. (ed.) New perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific prehistory (Terra Australis 45): 311–32. Canberra: ANU. https://doi.org/10.22459/TA45.03.2017.18Google Scholar
Obluska, J.T. 2015. Cross-cultural bead encounters at the Red Sea port site of Berenike, Egypt: preliminary assessment (seasons 2009–2012). Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 24: 735–77. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0010.0126Google Scholar
Popescu, G.A., Antonini, C. Silvi & Baipakov, K.. 1998. L'Uomo d'Oro: la cultura delle Steppe del Kazakhstan dall'Eta’ del Bronzo alle Granzi Migrazioni. Roma: Electra.Google Scholar
Prasetyo, B. 1994–1995. Laporan Penelitian Situs Plawangan, Rembang, Jawa Tenggah (1980–1993) (Berita Penelitian Arkeologi 43). Jakarta: Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional.Google Scholar
Pryce, T.O., Bellina-Pryce, B. & Bennett, A.T.N.. 2008. The development of metal technologies in the upper Thai-Malay peninsula: initial interpretation of the archaeometallurgical evidence from Khao Sam Kaeo. Bulletin de l’École Française d'Extrême-Orient 93: 295315. https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2006.6040CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pryce, T.O., Murillo-Barroso, M., Biggs, L., Martinon-Torres, M. & Bellina, B.. 2017. The metallurgical industries, in Bellina, B. (ed.) Khao Sam Kaeo: an early port city between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea (Memoires Archeologiques 28): 501–46. Paris: École Française d'Extrême-Orient.Google Scholar
Pryce, T.O., Calo, A., Prasetyo, B., Bellwood, P. & O'Connor, S.. 2018. Copper-base metallurgy in Metal Age Bali: evidence from Gilimanuk, Manikliyu, Pacung, Pangkung Paruk and Sembiran. Archaeometry 60: 127189. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12384CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinecke, A. 2009. Early cultures (first millennium BC to second century AD), in Tingley, N. (ed.) Arts of ancient Vietnam: 2353. New York: Asia Society.Google Scholar
Reinecke, A. 2015. Ancient gold and silver jewelry and the beginnings of gold working in Mainland Southeast Asia, in Barnes, R., Stein, E.N. and Diebold, B. (ed.) Gold in early Southeast Asia: 125281. New Haven (CT): Yale Southeast Asia Studies.Google Scholar
Reinecke, A. (ed.). 2016. Schätze der Archäologie Vietnams. Mainz am Rhein: Nünnerich-Asmus.Google Scholar
Reinecke, A., Laychour, V. & Sonetra, S.. 2009. The first golden age of Cambodia: excavation at Prohear. Bonn: DAI/KAAK.Google Scholar
Reinecke, A., Leusch, V. & Dung, L.T.M.. 2014. Đồ vàng cổ ở Việt Nam: Kết quả phân tích đầu tiên về đồ vàng trong văn hóa Sa Huỳnh. Khảo Cổ Học 2: 5263.Google Scholar
Saint-Michel, L. 1951. Situation des dodecaedres Celto-Romains dans la tradition symbolique Pythagoricienne. Bulletin del l'Association Guillaume Bude 10: 92116. https://doi.org/10.3406/bude.1951.4510CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlosser, S., Reinecke, A., Schwab, R., Pernicka, E., Seng, S. & Vin, L.. 2012. Early Cambodian gold and silver from Prohear: composition, trace elements and gilding. Journal of Archaeological Science 39: 2877–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.04.045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soejono, R.P. 1977. Sistim-Sistim Penguburan pada Akhir Masa Prasejara di Bali. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta.Google Scholar
Tim Balai Arkeologi. 2011. Laporan Penelitian Arkeologi. Situs Pangkung Paruk, Seririt, Buleleng, Bali. Bali: Balai Arkeologi Denpasar.Google Scholar
Tim Balai Arkeologi. 2014. Laporan Penelitian Arkeologi. Situs Pangkung Paruk, Seririt, Buleleng, Bali. Bali: Balai Arkeologi Denpasar.Google Scholar
Westerlaken, R. 2011. Banjar Laba Nangga: a prehistoric site in north Bali and its interpretation as cultural heritage. Unpublished MA dissertation, Leiden University.Google Scholar
Yamagata, M. 2006. Inland Sa Huynh Culture along the Thu Bon River Valley in central Vietnam, in Bacus, E.A., Glover, I.C. & Piggott, V.C. (ed.) Uncovering Southeast Asia's past: selected papers from the 10th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists: 168–83. Singapore: NUS.Google Scholar
Yamagata, M., Manh, P.D. & Bui, C.H.. 2001. Western Han bronze mirrors recently discovered in central and southern Vietnam. Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 5: 99106.Google Scholar