David Bulbeck
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University,
Canberra, Australia
 
Budianto Hakim,
Balai Arkeologi Makassar, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
 
Date of Document: 27 June 2005
 
 

Introduction

Allangkanangnge ri Latanete ("the palace complex on the hill ridge"), henceforth Allangkanangnge, is located in Sarepao kampong, desa We Cudai, kecamatan Pammana, Wajo kabupaten in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is one of the best-known Bugis historical sites. Allangkanangnge is reputed to be the palace of We Cudai (of I La Galigo fame), and is known to be a palace centre of the kingdom of Cina until Cina changed its name to Pammana after accepting Islam early in the seventeenth century CE. Archaeological surveys of the site go back to the mid-twentieth century, and Kaharuddin (1994) produced a sketch map of the site, but there had been no systematic survey of the site’s surface contents or scientific excavations until the English-Indonesian expedition led by Ian Caldwell (now of the University of Leeds). Between 1 and 3 August 1999, the English-Indonesian team, which included one author of this report (BH), collected 251 keramik (tradeware) sherds scattered on the surface, and excavated a square metre within the area identified by Kaharuddin as the major sherdage concentration (Bulbeck 2000; Bulbeck and Caldwell 2000).

A grant to the senior author (DB) from the Australia-Indonesia Institute, for the project Origin of Complex Society in South Sulawesi (OXIS), allowed DB to study the recovered materials, stored at Balai Arkeologi Makassar, in January 2000. DB and a local ceramics expert (Karaeng Demmanari) identified the collected and excavated tradewares, while DB also supervised granometric analysis of the Allangkanangnge sediments (which are predominantly sand), and extracted a sample of marine shell (Telescopium telescopium) from the basal spit of the excavation for radiocarbon dating. (Footnote 1)

All the tradewares date between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, apart from a small quantity of nineteenth to twentieth century surface sherdage which reflects recent usage of the site – notably, its upgrading to monumental status by the local Bugis (Bulbeck 2000; Bulbeck and Caldwell 2000). The sample of marine shell, which is an intertidal mangrove species (Academy of Natural Sciences 2004), is dated to 820 +/- 60 BP (ANU-11352). This determination would correspond approximately to the thirteenth century, if the sample were terrestrial, but allowance must be made for the marine carbon content of this intertidal sample. Its age could be as early as the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries, if we assume that half of the carbon content is marine, but a more cautious allowance (75% marine carbon) would indicate a fourteenth to early seventeenth century date (Table 1). The likely range of dates mentioned in the previous sentence closely matches the thirteenth to seventeenth century antiquity indicated for Allangkanangnge by its tradewares, and thus confirms the site’s status as a pre-Islamic centre of Cina.

Table 1. Range of possible dates for the Allangkanangnge mangrove shell sample (Footnote 2)

	1-sigma range (68.3% probability)	2-sigma range (95.4% probability)
0% marine carbon	1209-1287 CE	1054-1059, 1151-1317, 1345-1383 CE
50% marine carbon	1324-1360, 1380-1441 CE	1291-1470 CE
75% marine carbon	1409-1550 CE	1336-1361, 1380-1646 CE
100% marine carbon	1496-1659 CE	1429-1765, 1785-1804 CE

A second grant to DB from the Australia-Indonesia Institute, for the project Expanded Edition of Land of Iron, funded further study, in late June and July of 2004, of the materials excavated under the general umbrella of the OXIS project. During this time, BH recorded the Allangkanangnge ri Latanete excavated earthenware, applying a system commensurate with that DB is using for the OXIS pottery excavated in Luwu kabupaten, to the north of Allangkanangnge. DB subsequently transferred BH’s notes to an Excel spreadsheet, and produced the analysis which is the basis of this report.

General earthenware contents

The 1999 excavation recovered approximately 1,950 earthenware sherds weighing just over 5½ kilograms (Table 2). There are some minor discrepancies between the counts for the classified sherds, and the counts for these sherds recorded during the excavation, probably reflecting a combination of counting error and the fact that the smallest sherds tend to get overlooked during classification. Spit 3 was excavated as a ten centimetre spit, whereas the other spits were approximately five cm in depth, which explains the greater earthenware amounts found in spit 3. These are dense earthenware concentrations, unabated throughout the deposit, and unambiguously reflect the site’s use for habitation (even though the site’s current use is as the seventeenth century and later Islamic graveyard of the Pammana royalty). The ratio of c. 1,950 earthenware sherds to the 26 tradeware sherds recovered from the excavation (Bulbeck 2000) indicates that most of the pots used by the inhabitants were earthenware. Of course, tradewares, being more highly fired than earthenwares, tend to be more durable, and so a visitor to the site during its period of occupancy would have observed a higher ratio of tradeware to earthenware vessels than this comparison might suggest.

Table 2. General statistics of the excavated Allangkanangnge ri Latanete earthenware

	Spit 1	Spit 2	Spit 3	Spit 4	Spit 5	Spit 6	Total
Body sherds	331	143	669	138	208	146	1635
Rim sherds	34	13	37	57	72	58	271
Shoulder/neck sherds	0	0	2	13	10	0	25
Cover sherds	7	2	1	0	2	0	12
Footring/base sherds	0	0	2	2	2	0	6
Total classified sherds	372	158	711	210	294	204	1949
Total sherd weight (grams)	654.4	243.0	1740.5	975.0	1123.0	845.0	5580.9
Sherd count (excavation notes)	361	162	718	212	308	207	1968

Approximately ten percent of the sherds were deemed to be sufficiently diagnostic to allow identification of the original vessel form. These identifications are presented in Table 3 in terms of the Indonesian name and their English equivalent. The identifications suggest certain changes over time in the vessel forms deposited in the excavated square; for instance, long-necked jars (pasu) gradually give way to large jars (tempayan) as we move from the base to the top of the deposit, and cups (cangkir) are restricted to the top three spits, compared to bowls which are more evenly distributed throughout the deposit. However, these two particular transitions may not reflect change in site function, as we may be monitoring a change in storage jars from pasu (and jumbangan) to tempayan over time, and the addition of cangkir to the repertoire of serving vessels late in the site’s habitation history. On the other hand, the restriction of cooking vessels (periuk and stoves) to spits 2 to 5 may suggest that food preparation had occurred in the vicinity of the excavation square only during the middle phase of the site’s habitation. This inference would be supported by BH’s notes on the occurrence of charcoal accretions to the surface of the sherds, which he recorded for sherds in spits 3 to 5 but not in the other spits. Accordingly, the area near the excavated square would not appear to have been used for food preparation in the earliest and latest stages of the site’s occupation history.

Table 3. Excavated earthenware vessel forms from Allangkanangnge ri Latanete

	Spit 1	Spit 2	Spit 3	Spit 4	Spit 5	Spit 6	Total
Large jars (tempayan)	8	4	7	6	1	0	26
Long-necked jars (pasu)	5	0	8	13	7	8	41
Covered jars (tertutup)	1	3	1	0	2	1	8
Large pots (jumbangan)	2	0	16	0	1	5	24
Cooking pots (periuk)	0	0	25	10	0	0	35
Stoves (tungku)	0	1	0	0	1	0	2
Cups (cangkir)	4	0	3	0	0	0	7
Bowls (mangkok)	6	0	5	2	10	3	26
Total	26	8	65	31	22	17	169

The inferences in the previous paragraph assume that the excavated debris had accumulated gradually, becoming buried over time with sediment deposition and soil formation during site occupation. From Bugis ethnography and historical accounts (Pelras 1996) we may assume that the inhabitants had lived in houses on piles. Discarded waste such as broken pottery could have entered the ground beneath the house piles or between the residents’ houses. However, a dense habitation deposit, like that found in the excavated square, could have conceivably been created in a single event if the residents had dug a hole to dump their waste. In that case, the 26 excavated tradeware sherds, each of which can be dated to a 100-200 year period of manufacture, should not show any tendency to be older at the bottom and younger at the top. But in fact the age of the tradewares does correlate with depth. All the tradewares in the bottom three spits could be fifteenth century and earlier, while all the tradewares in the top three spits (and the surface) could be sixteenth century or later (Bulbeck 2000). These tradeware datings, along with evidence for changes in preferred earthenware vessels over time (Table 3), are inconsistent with the random accumulation of material that would be expected if the deposit were simply a waste dump. Of course, there may have been some disturbance of the deposit in the vicinity of the excavated square, as a result of activities like excavating postholes, building outdoor hearths, or planting trees for shade. Nonetheless, the succession of excavated remains from spit 6 to spit 1 would appear to provide a reasonable record of the history of habitation activities in this part of the site, including the restriction of food preparation to the middle habitation phase.

Technological attributes

Most of the Allangkanangnge earthenwares would appear to have been locally produced, to the extent that we can note differences with the earthenwares from Sewo and Tinco Tua (Bulbeck 1989), two fourteenth to seventeenth century centres of the Bugis kingdom of West Soppeng (on Cina’s western border). BH’s observations indicate that fine-bodied sherds outnumber coarse-bodied sherds by a factor of ten, porosity of the fabric was generally low, and the vessels had been fired under oxidizing and reducing conditions at approximately equal frequencies. BH also described most of the bodies as strong (kuat). The main exceptions are a soft-bodied sherd from spit 3, two "soft orange" sherds from Spit 2, along with two "kaolin" sherds from spit 3. BH explicitly related the soft orange sherds to the soft pottery frequently recorded in circa fifteenth century contexts in Luwu, South Sulawesi (Bulbeck and Caldwell 2000:37; Bulbeck 2003, 2004; Bulbeck et al. in press), and the kaolin sherds to white-bodied pottery recorded at sites such as Trowulan in Java, Jambi in Sumatra, and Satingpra in south Thailand (see Miksic and Yap 1990). The kaolin sherds are virtually unique in the Allangkanangnge assemblage in having a Munsell colour of 10YR 6/1 (light grey), while the Munsell reading of YR2.5 5/6 (red) recorded on one of the soft orange sherds is also unusual by Allangkanangnge standards. The distinctiveness of these sherds from the usual Allangkanangnge wares points to the occasional importation of fine pottery containers from Luwu in the north and from Java (or Sumatra or Malaya) to the west.

The most commonly recorded fabric colours are 5YR 5/4 (reddish brown), 5YR 5/6 (yellowish red), and YR5 4/2 (dark reddish grey). However, there is a wide range of colours from more reddish (2.5YR) to more yellowish hues (10YR), as well as from light grey (6/1) to very dark grey (3/1) and highly coloured (6/8) chroma. Fabric colours appear to differ from the Soppeng sherds in more frequently displaying a brownish rather than a reddish shade (cf. Bulbeck 1989). According to BH’s observations, approximately twelve percent of the sherds show polishing on at least one surface, 54% are slipped inside, and 62% are slipped externally (Table 4). The recorded frequencies of slips may be a little exaggerated because slips can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from firing effects that leave a thin, more oxidized surface covering a more reduced core. One interesting point that emerges is that all surface treatment effects appear to have dropped in frequency during the latter phase of occupation of the site. Polishing drops from 12-27% in spits 4-6 to 7-11% in spits 1-3, while internal slipping drops from 70-72% to 36-46%, and external slipping drops from 70-82% to 43-56% (Table 4). This suggests an increased use of less carefully finished earthenware pottery after the fifteenth century.

Table 4. Surface treatment effects recorded by Budianto Hakim on the Allangkanangnge earthenware sherds

	Spit 1	Spit 2	Spit 3	Spit 4	Spit 5	Spit 6	Total
Polished	26/372 (7.0%)	18/158 (11.4%)	56/711 (7.9%)	26/210 (12.4%)	79/294 (26.9%)	35/204 (17.2%)	240/1949 (12.3%)
Slipped inside	170/372 (45.7%)	58/158 (36.5%)	328/711 (46.1%)	152/210 (72.4%)	206/294 (70.1%)	149/204 (73.0%)	1063/1949 (54.5%)
Slipped outside	210/372 (56.5%)	68/158 (43.0%)	396/711 (55.7%)	173/210 (82.4%)	206/294 (70.1%)	161/204 (78.9%)	1214/1949 (62.3%)

BH recorded the range of thicknesses (in mm) of each group of sherds he recognized during analysis. These data allow sherd thickness to be related to vessel form where the latter attribute could be identified. The thickest observed sherds belong to large jars and large pots but the stoutness of these vessels varies widely (ranges, 4.0-20.9 mm and 6.5-15.6 mm respectively). Stoves are consistently thick (range, 8.5-12.1 mm) while long-necked jars and covered jars also tend to have stout walls (4.2-13.7 and 2.0-13.6 mm respectively). The thinnest forms are bowls (3.0-12.9 mm), cooking pots (2.0-12.1 mm), and cups (2.8-7.3 mm). The greater thickness of storage vessels compared to serving vessels agrees with the greater size and expected durability of the former. For similar reasons of functionality, stoves (where the fire is lit inside the vessel) tend to be generally stouter than cooking pots (which are set on a fire).

Decorations

One hundred and forty-five of the Allangkanangnge sherds (7.4%) show signs of decoration. This quite high frequency of decoration derives mainly from the 110 body sherds with oblique to horizontal lines incised or impressed on their exterior surface (Figure 1). BH suggests this decorative style is distinctive of Allangkanangnge, and certainly it was not observed at Soppeng (Bulbeck 1989). The vessel form of these body sherds could not be diagnosed, but three lines of evidence suggest that this was a decorative style focused on jars (storage vessels). First, the range of thicknesses of these sherds (3.3-10.7 mm) is on the high side compared to the stoutness of plain body sherds (2.2-11.1 mm); secondly, storage vessels tend to be in plain display in comparison to other vessels (cooking pots in particular would soon have any decorative effects blackened out from smoke exposure); and thirdly, jars are, with one exception, the only definitely decorated form (see below). The other Allangkanangnge decorations that could not be assigned to a particular form (but again, focused on jars?) are also simple geometric motifs. Eleven sherds show incised horizontal lines, nine have punctate lines of dots, two have impressed oblique lines, one has incised parallel sloping lines, one has an oblique gouged line (as though gouged out with a twig), and one has lines of impressed ovals in between bands of horizontal incised lines. These 25 sherds have decorations reminiscent of the simplest motifs recorded on Soppeng earthenware (Bulbeck 1989).

Nine sherds from identified vessel forms, eight from jars, bear decorations (Figure 1). Two cover sherds have incised horizontal lines along their rim, one has a crenulated rim, and the rim of one covered jar is crenulated. Other jar decorations include single instances of appliqu´e nubbins, punctate squares and triangles, and a translation of incised sloping lines (all on the neck or shoulder), incised diamonds (on the body), and gouged diamonds (on the footring). Finally, a cup rim has incised horizontal lines. Of these, only the crenulated rims and the sloping-line translation are paralleled in the Soppeng collection (Bulbeck 1989).

Summary

The 35 cm of deposit excavated in 1999 at Allangkanangnge recovered nearly 2,000 earthenware sherds weighing 5.5 kilograms, indicative of a dense habitation deposit between the thirteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Storage vessels are the most frequent vessel form identified, followed by cooking vessels (restricted to the middle section of the excavated deposit), and serving vessels. There appears to have been a transition from long-necked jars (pasu) to large jars (tempayan) over time, and cups may have been a late addition to the repertoire of earthenware pottery. Coincident with these changes, the frequencies of polished and/or slipped vessels apparently decreased over time, but the quality of the wares remained high. Jars appear to have been the most frequently decorated vessels, including the incision and impression of irregular lines to the body, possibly as a distinctive Cina tradition. Other, rarer decorative styles find a sporadic level of agreement with the decorations recorded at contemporary sites in Soppeng, the Bugis kingdom which abutted Cina during the habitation phase at Allangkanangnge. Of particular interest, two sherds in spit 3 suggest the importation of fine pottery from the vicinity of Java, and two sherds in spit 2 have been identified with the soft pottery frequently recorded in c. fifteenth century contexts at sites in Luwu to the north.

Acknowledgments

Two grants to DB from the Australia-Indonesia Institute allowed study of the Cina materials. Thanks to the Director of Balai Makassar Arkeologi, Muhammad Husni, for facilitating our study of the Allangkanangnge pottery in 2004. The Centre for Archaeological Research at the Australian National University funded the radiocarbon determination.

References

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 2004. OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database. http://data.acnatsci.org/obis/search.php/7591

Bulbeck, F.D. 1989. Lampiran C. The Soppeng flaked stone tools and decorated earthenwares. In B. Kallupa, D. Bulbeck, I. Caldwell, I. Sumantri and K. Demmanari. Survey Pusat Kerajaan Soppeng 1100-1986. Final Report to the Australian Myer Foundation, pp. 97-103. Privately published in Canberra ISBN 073 1690 78 8.

Bulbeck, D. 2000. Sediments and Ceramics from Cina and Cenrana. Report to the Australia-Indonesia Institute: Appendix A. http://arts.anu.edu.au/bullda/Cenrana_AII_report.pdf

Bulbeck, D. 2003. The archaeology of the major sites in Ussu/Cerekang. In Nurhayati Rahman, Anil Hukma, and Idwar Anwar (eds), La Galigo: Menelusuri Jejak Warisan Sastra Dunia, pp. 467-484. Makassar: Hasanuddin University.

Bulbeck, D. 2004. Expanded Edition of Land of Iron. Interim Report to the Australia-Indonesia Institute. http://arts.anu.edu.au/bullda/expanded_edition.html

Bulbeck, David and Ian Caldwell. 2000. Land of Iron: The Historical Archaeology of Luwu and the Cenrana Valley. Results of the Origin of Complex Society in South Sulawesi Project (OXIS). University of Hull Centre for South-East Asian Studies, Hull, with the School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra.

Bulbeck, David, Doreen Bowdery, John Field and Bagyo Prasetyo. In press. The Palace Centre of Sago City: Utti Batue, Luwu, Sulawesi, Indonesia. In Malcolm Lillie and Stephen Ellis (eds), Wetland Archaeology and Environments: Regional Issues, Global Perspectives. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Gremmen, W.H.E. 1990. Palynological investigations in the Danau Tempe depression, southwest Sulawesi (Celebes), Indonesia. Modern Quaternary Research in Indonesia 11:123-34.

Kaharuddin. 1994. Permukiman Kuno Allangkanangnge ri Latanete Kecamatan Pammana Kabupaten Wajo. Sarjana thesis. Makassar: Hasanuddin University.

Miksic, J.N. and C.T. Yap. 1990. X-ray fluorescence data on earthenware pottery trade in Sumatra, 12th to 14th centuries. Paper presented at the 14th Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Congress, Yogyakarta, 25 August-2 September 1990.

Pelras, C. 1996. The Bugis. Oxford: Blackwell.

Reimer, P. and R. Reimer. n.d. Marine Reservoir Correction Database. http://calib.qub.ac.uk/marines.cgl?247.117

Stuiver, M. and P.J. Reimer. 2005. Radiocarbon Calibration Program. CALIB REV5.0.1. http://calib.qub.ac.uk/calib/calib.html