Tanah Datar: Early State Formation at the Background of Highland-Lowland Relations on Sumatra

2011年和2012年在西苏门答腊岛高地的Tanah Datar进行的考古研究，对米南卡保人起源地的早期定居历史有了新的认识。武吉贡巴克和武吉金吉尔两座山的发掘，为印度教-佛教国王阿迪提阿瓦曼（1343-1375）的高地帝国提供了具体的考古发现和基本发现，迄今为止只有铭文记录。该研究证明，在一个土著统治体系的中心，有一个动态的定居点发展，它与低地保持着联系，并沿着海上丝绸之路进行贸易，从而导致高地地区的经济开放和政治重新定位。在这一转变过程的最后，米南卡保社会已经从一个前国家政体发展成为一个得到国际承认的国家。与扩建项目相关的研究问题是阿迪亚瓦曼时期与这一时期之前的考古发现之间的时间差异。在研究区域的一个地点的探测中发现了比14世纪更古老的定居证据。相比之下，Sinamar和Mahat邻近地区令人印象深刻的巨石墓地清楚地证明了早期人口密集的定居点核心。事先计划在Mahat墓地进行的广泛研究和查明其定居点的目的是澄清该地区定居点结构的时间顺序和社会经济背景。这些信息将提供关于西苏门答腊高地早期定居社会的数据，为在Tanah Datar也可见的社会过程的比较研究提供基础。研究的核心目标是强调文化传统的连续性，例如在前伊斯兰教和伊斯兰教的墓地中使用巨石。物质文化的其他方面，如陶器传统，将解决区域和区域间的联系。因此，Tanah Datar研究的扩展项目将提供第一个比较研究，以便在西苏门答腊高地更广泛的背景下以及在更广泛的历史时间框架内重建定居过程和文化转移。

The archaeological research pursued in 2011 and 2012 in Tanah Datar in the highland of West Sumatra has gained new insights into the early settlement history in the land of origin of the Minangkabau. Excavations at the twin hills of Bukit Gombak and Bukit Kincir compliments concrete archaeological finds and basic findings to the highland empire of the Hindu-Buddhist king Adityavarman (1343-1375), which was so far only documented by inscriptions. The study proof a dynamic settlement development in the centre of an indigenous system of reign which maintained evidenced contacts to the lowland and trade along the maritime Silk Road what resulted in an economic opening and political reorientation in the highland region. At the end of this transformation process the Minangkabau society has developed from a pre-state polity to an internationally recognized state. The research question relevant for the extension project is the chronological discrepancy between the period of Adityavarman and the archaeological finds pre-dating this time-span. Settlement evidences older than the 14th century were uncovered in soundings at one site in the research area. In contrast, the impressive megalithic grave yards in the neighboring regions of Sinamar and Mahat clearly attest to early densely populated settlement cores. The extended research, planned ahead, at the burial grounds of Mahat and the identification of their settlements aims to clarify the chronological sequence and the socio-economic background of the settlement structures in that region. Such information would provide data on an early sedentary society in the highland of West Sumatra, what provides the basis for comparative studies of social processes which are also visible in Tanah Datar. Central to the research aim is to highlight the continuities of cultural traditions e.g. the use of megaliths at pre-Islamic and Islamic burial grounds. Other aspects of the material culture such as earthenware traditions will address regional and interregional connections. As result, the extension project of the Tanah Datar research would provide the first comparative study to reconstruct settlement processes and the cultural transfer in the broader context of the highland of West Sumatra as well as in a wider historical time frame.