My archaeological discoveries in northeastern Bali indicate that the coastal plain adjacent to the villages of Sembiran , Pacung and Julah contains archaeological deposits dating from perhaps 2800 BP to the present. The finds include Indian potsherds, later Asian traded ceramics, earthenwares, beads of glass, stone and gold, a fragment o f a stone mould used during the manufacture of a Pejeng-type drum, fragments of bronze and iron implements, animal bones, and two human burials.
The excavations also revealed some important information on the geomorphology, environment, vegetation and food animals of this region during the last 2000 years. The processes of deposition of colluvial and alluvial sediments which formed this region occurred very rapidly during the past 2000 years. As sediments accumulated the river banks and adjacent terrain would have become raised further above the river beds and overbank flooding would have become less frequent. This means that less surface water is available now than in the past. Today, the water table under the plain along the coast lies around 2.5 and 3.0 m below the surface, so people must dig wells in order to obtain fresh water during the dry season.
Phytolith analysis of sediment samples from Pacung I indicate that rice was growing on or near the site during the period of layers 6 and 7, between 2.4 and 3.8 m below the surface. The presence of a Rouletted sherd in layer 7 in this trench indicates that
Oryza
was being grown on this coastal plain by c. 2000 years ago. The presence of cytoplasmic carbon in the phytolith cells also suggests that a catastrophic event, perhaps a volcanic eruption, occurred between layers 6 and 5 (2.4 m depth) and caused a dramatic reduction and change in the local vegetation. This catastrophic event might have caused the abandonment of the site as suggested by the virtual absence of artifacts above these layers. This circumstance also occurred in Sembiran IV, VI and VH.On the basis of bones and teeth several species of food animals can be identified in the trenches including pig, dog, cattle, goat or deer, bird and fish. A bovine molar was found in the Late Phase layer at Julah. However, most bones were concentrated in habitation layer 7 in SBN IV, VI and VII. They are undoubtedly food bone of the Early Phase of occupation at Sembiran c. 2000 years ago.
The Indian sherds include Rouletted Ware sherds, black slipped sherds, a rim sherd of Arikamedu type 10, and a sherd with characters in Kharoshthi script. These and the hundreds of glass beads suggest that contact between Bali and India had already begun by about 2000 years ago. It is likely that Indian traders visited Sembiran searching for spices and aromatic wood from the eastern regions of the Indonesian archipelago.
The increasing demand for spices during the Roman period encouraged Indian traders to search for these products in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia. The
Ramayana
and thePeriplus
both mention cloves and sandalwood. The clove tree is native to the islands of Temate, Tidore, Motir, Bacan and Makian in the Moluccas and the best sandalwood occurs in Sumba and Timor. Sembiran might have been one of the trading centres in northern Bali located on a major spice trade route between western and eastern Indonesia.The region of Julah (including Sembiran ?) continued to be a trading centre between the 10th and 12th centuries AD, as recorded in the six copper plate inscriptions which are now kept in these two villages. The discoveries of Chinese, and Vietnamese ceramics during the excavations in 1987 and 1989 also extend this time span to a little later, perhaps to the 15th century AD.
Topographically, the villages of Sembiran and Julah are located on a sheltered coastline and adjacent to a deeply shelving sea bed; they would have been in an excellent strategic location for a roadstead. The southwest coast of Bali is more difficult for approach by large trading vessels and it is logical to assume that early trading activity was focused on sheltered ports of the north and southeast coasts, particularly if rice was locally grown and available there for trade at that time. It is not clear why Sembiran and Julah eventually ceased to be used as trading centres. Volcanic eruption and security are possible reasons for abandonment, since the inscriptions indicate that the villagers of Julah were on at least one occasion plundered, captured and killed by their enemies.
Banwa Bharu
was another contemporary trading centre in northern Bali, mentioned in the inscriptions of Bebetin AI-III and B (AD 896, AD 989, AD 1050). However, this place has not been identified yet. It was possibly located in the village of Sangsit, about 15 km west of Sembiran and Julah. Further research is still needed in order to explore archaeological deposits in this area.As a trading centre Sembiran might have also have become a manufacturing centre. This is suggested by the discovery in SBN VI of a fragment of a mould for impressing decoration into wax during the production of Pejeng-type bronze drums. Some fragments of a larger mould for drum manufacture are also kept today in the village of Manuaba in central Bali. Copper and tin, used for drum casting in Bali during the early first millennium AD, might have been imported into the island through Sembiran. On the basis of the archaeological evidence and the historical data it seems that the coastal region around the villages of Julah, Sembiran and Pacung developed as "a gateway community", commencing at least 2000 years ago.
The development of ranking and social complexity during the Early Metal period in Bali might have also increased the demand for the exotic goods such as glass beads and metals that served as indicators of rank. These exotic goods were obtained through long distance trade which ultimately could have encouraged the development of a gateway community such as Sembiran. The function of such a settlement could have been to satisfy demand for commodities through trade, and to link its hinterland regions to external trade routes.
Gateway communities tend to be located to one side of their hinterlands in order to reduce the transportation costs involved in the movement of goods. The hinterlands look much like fans, which radiate outward from their respective gateway. Hinterland communities are linked to their gateway communities via linear or dendritic market networks (Hirth 1978: 37).
It can also be argued that not only exotic goods such as glass beads and metal but also information and local products flowed from the northeastern coastal region to parts of central Bali. Ethnographic and historical data suggest examples of this. For example, salt and fish are traded today from the northeastern coast to the area around Kintamani in central Bali. Rice and cloth from Kintamani or southern Bali flow in the other direction.
The inscription of Kintamani E (AD 1200) states that only people from the village of Kintamani, but not the villagers around Lake Batur
(Wingkang ranu
), were allowed to trade cotton at that time to the northern coastal villages of Les, Paminggir, Bondalem, Julah, Indrapura and Purwasiddhi. Les, Bondalem and Julah still exist, but Paminggir, Indrapura and Purwasiddhi are as yet unidentified. Paminggir was possibly the present village of Tejakula. It is thus likely that ecological diversity led to symbiotic exchangerelationships between the northeastern coast and central Bali, perhaps from at least 2000 years ago.
Given the notion that the Sembiran - Julah region had already developed as a gateway community by at least 2000 years ago, it is necessary to consider the nature of the link between this community and its hinterland. The inscription of Sukawana AI, dated to AD 882 and the oldest Old Balinese inscription ever found, mentions a satra or hospice in the mountains near Kintamani. Cooking pots and mats were provided in the
satra for those who travelled in the night (Goris 1954: 54). A village called Satra still exists today, although it is not clear whether the satra mentioned in the inscription was located on the present site. During my survey in 1987, I was told that people from several villages in northeastern Bali travel to Kintamani today to buy or sell their goods. For example, the villagers of Bondalem, Julah and Sembiran travel via Madenan, Satra and Dausa to Kintamani. The villagers of Les and Panuktukan usually travel in the afternoon and spend the night in the village of Siakin, before they buy or sell goods next morning in the market of Kintamani. It seems that several land routes connected the northeastern coast and central B a li, and Kintamani could have been a meeting place for the people from both regions.
As far as the market network is concerned, the Old Balinese inscriptions mention three market days, including wijayapura , wijayamanggala and wijayakranta . These market days still exist today and are named respectively pasah , beteng , and kajeng . This three day cycle is used to arrange the circulation of products within market networks. For example, the market day in Kintamani falls on every pasah , whereas in Tejakula it is on beteng and in Les on kajeng . Therefore, traders can travel to Kintamani, Tejakula and Les in order to attend markets on successive days.
As discussed in chapter 8, foreign traders {banyaga ) might have lived in Julah and Banwa Bharu during the late 9th and early 10th centuries AD. Trade activities in the
kuta at Julah and at Banwa Bharu were possibly under the supervision of officials called
ser pasar ( market officers). Regulations concerning the cargoes of stranded ships
(taban karang ), wrecked ships, and the properties of foreign traders who died at kuta
are also mentioned. The question arises of the roles of these banyaga in relation to socioeconomic and political charge in Balinese society at that time. Several Old Javanese inscriptions from the 10th century AD indicate that foreign traders (banyaga ) became members of the mangilala drbya haji (the collectors of the ruler’s revenue). Whether this also occured in Bali at this time is unknown.
SU G G E S T IO N S FO R FU T U R E W O R K
The excavations in northeastern Bali have revealed only a small part of the whole site which contains Indie cultural deposits dated to c.2000 years ago. The whole site could have been at least 300 m in diameter. The excavations in SBN IV, VI and VII removed about 33 cubic metres of soil and produced at least 80 definite Indian sherds and 245 other imported sherds. One Rouletted sherd was also found in the trench of Pacung I which is 300 metres away from the Sembiran trenches. There must be hundreds or possibly thousands of Indian sherds still in the ground within that radius of 300 metres. Therefore, more excavations need to be done in the future, particularly around the trenches of SBN IV, VI and VII.
Further excavations also need to be carried out near the trench of BKH I in order to reveal the stone platforms which were found during a post-excavation visit to the site with other participants of the Yogyakarta IPPA conference in 1990. These stone platforms possibly mark the beginnings of occupation at the site, dated to c. 1000 years ago and contemporary with the Sembiran and Julah inscriptions.
As already noted, Banwa Bharu and Manasa could have been other port sites in northeastern Bali between the 9th and 11th centuries AD. These sites have not been identified yet. Like Julah, Banwa Bharu was also close to the sea and was possibly located at the present village of Sangsit. Test excavations here could probably be rewarding.
Based on archaeology and inscriptional data it seems that the coastal plain from Kecamatan Sangsit in the west to Kecamatan Tejakula in the east contains many archaeological deposits dating from perhaps 2800 BP to the present. This region has been- involved in long distance trade since at least 2000 years ago. Further intensive research is needed in order to reveal more of the archaeological deposits of the region.