Sailing the deep blue sea: The rock art of Wetang Island, Maluku Barat Daya, Indonesia

Mahirta, Mahirta (2023) Sailing the deep blue sea: The rock art of Wetang Island, Maluku Barat Daya, Indonesia. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 18 (3). pp. 398-425. ISSN 15564894

[thumbnail of Sailing the deep blue sea  The rock art of Wetang Island  Maluku Barat Daya  Indonesia.pdf] Text
Sailing the deep blue sea The rock art of Wetang Island Maluku Barat Daya Indonesia.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to Registered users only

Download (9MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Recent discovery of painted rock art on Wetang Island in the Babar Island group, Maluku Province, Indonesia, reflects the central place of boats in the daily lives of island peoples, as well as their paramount ritual and symbolic role in Maluku, and more broadly across Island Southeast Asia. In addition to boats, the Wetang sites contain images of domestic animals, as well as a unique image of an apparent macropod (a marsupial mammal of the family that comprises kangaroos and wallabies), a family not found on most of the Maluku islands today. The Wetang art sites have some geometric motifs in common with their neighbor island, Kisar, and we raise the possibility that these symbols may have operated as markers of family or clan identity and thus may inform on lineal ownership of land and relationships between these islands.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: animal translocations; boats; clan identity; mortuary rituals; Painted art
Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology
Divisions: Faculty of Cultural Sciences > Graduate Program in Archaelogy
Depositing User: OKTAVIANA DWI P
Date Deposited: 13 Sep 2024 06:41
Last Modified: 13 Sep 2024 06:41
URI: https://ir.lib.ugm.ac.id/id/eprint/6990

Actions (login required)

View Item
View Item