Early Metal Age Settlement at the Site of Palemba, Karama Valley, Kalumpang, West Sulawesi

This article is about the Early Metal Age in Sulawesi, a little known period for this region. The research is based on the 2013 excavations undertaken at Palemba, a site rediscovered after being neglected for 80 years. A well-preserved occupation layer dominated by distinctive pottery sherds with ribbed patterns produced by carved paddle impressions is dated to the Early Metal Age (ca. cal. a.d. 300). With the sherds were imported beads, fragments of iron, fiber or cloth production tools, and a stone pavement which was cut by later placement of jar burials. One of these jars contained a flexed burial of a child, a type of burial never previously found in the Karama valley. Contemporary sites closer to the river mouth are badly disturbed, so Palemba provides important evidence for inland Karama valley occupation after the decline of early Neolithic settlements.