state temples: one in the mountains, one in the plains (the middle country), and one on the coast. Early immigrants able to obtain footholds in Central Bali eventually penetrated the interior by following river courses. Yet none of these mountain torrents are in any way navigable; their waters vary from shallow in the dry season to turbulent during rains. Their violent waters, from the mountains to the coast, cut deep ravines into enormous layers of tuff—or paras—the gray conglomerate of volcanic ashes turned into soft rock through contact with rain and flowing water. Tuff is found all over the island under the surface humus layer, and the shape and boundaries of Balinese kingdoms were determined by the course of the ravines carved into it. Most important historically and archaeologically was the region between the two major rivers, Pakerisan and Petanu. The rivers ran parallel, framing a strip of hinduized land stretching far inland.
Except for a few motor roads for which bridges have been constructed, all roads still parallel the rivers. If we do not want to cross the ravines, we must often make detours to reach a place only a short distance away—as the crow flies. Even to the sure-footed Balinese who easily walk up and down the ravines (or so it seems), the rivers and their valleys have always been unrelenting landmarks. Rivers coursing through the tuff layers occasionally undermined and brought down rock masses. To early peoples this seemed to be a supernatural manifestation requiring magical counteractions. It is understandable that sanctuaries, cloisters, hermitages, and monuments for kings and their retinue—all of these themselves concentrations of mysterious powers—were situated near these waterways.
Figure 6: The Pejeng Moon. Pura Penataran Sasih, Pejeng.
Chapter Two
Prehistoric Bali
THE INDONESIAN REPUBLIC, encompassing the chain of islands from Sumatra's extreme north to halfway across New Guinea (Irian Jaya), is far from ethnically homogeneous. It is a continuation of the former Netherlands Indies, which for centuries had artificially united peoples of disparate cultural and historical backgrounds. There is, however, a linguistic connection. All of the archipelago's languages (about 250 varieties distributed over 20-odd groups) belong to one large "Indonesian" language family. (The exceptions are New Guinea's Papuan languages, and one divergent family in northern East Indonesia.) Indonesian languages belong to the major family of "Austronesian" languages which also includes the various "Oceanic" languages of the Pacific. The introduction of foreign language elements and the isolation of smaller communities by the sea, or by mountains and rainforests, eventually brought about linguistic and cultural differentiation. Yet the Indonesian languages remain essentially homogeneous. To all appearances the languages, and the various peoples speaking them, especially in Western Indonesia, had a common origin. The Papuan and/or Oceanic (Melanesian) elements in the languages of the archipelago's eastern parts, probably originating from earlier populations, need not concern us here.
The population of the archipelago's western and central parts mainly consists of certain definitely interrelated elements, physical and cultural, which provided the basic unity in an apparent diversity. These ethnic elements are various types of "Malays" or "Indonesians" (the terms' various meanings can lead to confusion), each with their own historical background. Racially they are defined as "paleo-mongoloid," part of a general Mongoloid race which developed prior to more specialized forms such as the later historical Chinese. In East Indonesia this Malay element has mixed considerably with Papua-Melanesians, hence the very different ethnic types in that part of the archipelago.
THE PLEISTOCENE ERA
Indonesia's earliest prehistory may be traced back to various types of Pithecanthropus (recently renamed Homo erectus). This covers the Lower and Middle Pleistocene to the Upper Pleistocene Homo (erectus) soloensis (Solo Man), and the late Pleistocene Homo (sapiens) wadja-kensis. All these Pleistocene men—the earliest of which may go back about 350,000 years—were discovered in East Java and eastern Central Java. Palaeolithic implements dating from the Pleistocene (geologically later than the earliest skeletal remains) have been found in South Sumatra, Java, Borneo, South Celebes or Sulawesi, and Flores, but only recently in Bali.
The early invaders came from the Asian mainland, by at least two migratory routes, which followed land bridges created by the sea's extensive retreat all over the world during the glacial periods. One route led from India and China through Burma, Thailand, and Malaysia. The other came from the north (China) by Taiwan and the Philippines, branching off to Borneo (Kalimantan) and Celebes respectively. The latter branch avoided Wallace's line, which otherwise separates the Asiatic and Australian worlds. Besides human skeletal and palaeolithic remains, the Pleistocene faunas provide evidence of these migratory routes—fossilized remnants of animals which took identical migratory courses when fleeing the Eurasian glacial fronts for warmer climes, which were eventually found in maritime Southeast Asia.
Figure 7: Paleolithic implements. Pejeng Museum, Bedulu.
There are many reasons why Bali, just on the hither side of the Wallace Line and for a considerable time connected with Java, has always been part of Western Indonesia. During the early Pleistocene, however, it was not connected with the western land bridge ending in East Java. So far no skeletal remains of Pleistocene man have been discovered in the Last Paradise. For that matter, such fossils are scarce in Java too, restricted to a few sites. With regard to Bali, the absence, until recently, of palaeolithic implements was usually explained by the island's extensive covering of post-Pleistocene volcanic layers, which kept any earlier remains hidden. Only in 1961 did R. P. Soejono, Archaeological Service staff prehistorian, succeed in collecting certain monofacial pebble stones (roughly flaked on one side only) in North Bali, north of the village of Sembiran. Obviously being Palaeolithic, these stones (used for various purposes) testified to man having reached Bali during the Pleistocene.
After the glacial periods, the Palaeolithic was succeeded by an intermediate period with a character of its own, the Mesolithic (or Epi-palaeolithic). During this period, certain parts of the archipelago were peopled by new racial elements referred to as Palaeo-Melanesoid, Wed-doid, and Negrito. In the western islands they were eventually superseded by the early Indonesian Palaeo-Mongoloids, who arrived during the next stage, the Neolithic—a food-producing stage as opposed to the food-gathering Palaeolithic. They again arrived later during the Early Metal Age (the later-stage Bronze or Dongson Period).
In other words, the various waves of Indonesians, in the ethnic sense, arrived at intervals during the last two or three millennia B.C. The Mesolithic elements were not conspicuous at any time in the history of the western archipelago; in East Indonesia and New Guinea they mixed with later settlers, who brought a Neolithic of their own, as well as Papuan languages. Later, they also mixed with Malays, Europeans, and others. Together, they represent various aspects of the Indonesian cultural mosaic.
THE NEOLITHIC ERA
The Balinese Neolithic is part of what, from a purely technological viewpoint, has been called the "rectangular adze" culture, in reference to several varieties of polished adzes, rectangular both in outline and cross-section. In Indonesia the term "adze" applies to stone implements characterized by a position of the cutting-edge at right angles to the shaft, as opposed to the axe's bit, which runs parallel to the rod. There are also large and small gouges, grinding stones, etc. All over, grinding and polishing of stone tools is a general feature of neolithic techniques; mere edge-grinding started much earlier. A more essential aspect of neolithic culture is agricultural development, along with pottery-making.
This culture came from South China via Indochina. Its spread has been connected with the arrival of peoples—farmers and potters—who spoke Austronesian and early Indonesian languages. Later waves of related ethnic groups were not restricted to stone implements, but introduced metallurgical techniques from Bronze Age cultures in South China and northern Vietnam (Tonkin).
GILIMANUK
With respect to coastal settlements, Bali has proved more prolific in remains than other islands. Yet finds have so far