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The Pain Haka burial ground on Flores: Indonesian evidence for a shared Neolithic belief system in Southeast Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2016

Jean-Christophe Galipaud ,
Rebecca Kinaston ,
Siân Halcrow ,
Aimee Foster ,
Nathaniel Harris ,
Truman Simanjuntak ,
Jonathan Javelle  and
Hallie Buckley
Jean-Christophe Galipaud
Affiliation:
UMR Paloc, Research Institute for Development/National Museum of Natural History, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 51, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Rebecca Kinaston
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Str. 10, 07445 Jena, Germany
Siân Halcrow
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand
Aimee Foster
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand
Nathaniel Harris
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand
Truman Simanjuntak
Affiliation:
National Research and Development Centre for Archaeology (Pusat Penelitian dan Pengembangan Arkeologi Nasional), Jalan Raya Condet Pejaten 4, Jakarta 12510, Indonesia
Jonathan Javelle
Affiliation:
UMR Paloc, Research Institute for Development/National Museum of Natural History, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 51, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Hallie Buckley
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Abstract

Recent excavations at the coastal cemetery of Pain Haka on Flores have revealed evidence of burial practices similar to those documented in other parts of Southeast Asia. Chief among these is the use of pottery jars alongside other forms of container for the interment of the dead. The dating of the site combined with the fact that this burial practice is present over such a wide geographic area suggests a widespread belief system during the Neolithic period across much of Southeast Asia.

Keywords

IndonesiaNeolithicmortuary practicepotterybelief system
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 354 , December 2016 , pp. 1505 - 1521
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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