Archaeology Team Explores Human Migration In Maluku Islands

Saumlaki, Maluku, Aug 30 (Antara) - A team from the Ambon Archaeological Center is looking for pre-historic traces of human migration from Asia to Australia in several outer islands in the districts of Southwest Maluku and West Maluku Tenggara.

"Currently, we are conducting an archaeological research on the outer islands of Maluku -- Babar and Tanimbar -- that share borders with Australia," team leader Marlon Ririmasse stated here on Wednesday.

The team comprises Lucas Watimewa, Ratno Siahaan, Ericoram Lekatompesy, Karoline Johanes, and Ketut Udiyasa.

Tanimbar Islands belong to one of the island clusters in the south of Maluku and are the land bridges connecting the islands of Kei, Aru, and Papua to Babar Islands and Sermatang to Timor and Nusa Tenggara.

Sharing direct borders with Australia, Tanimbar Islands are also the outermost boundary of the Indonesian archipelago, which is also known for its cultural diversity.

Babar, the outermost islands of Maluku, lie close to Australia and have strategic value in terms of geography and geohistory.

Such archaeological research on the two island clusters are considered important, as it has never been conducted.

Babar Island has a vast karst area and hence has large caves that potentially preserve prehistoric archaeological remains.

"The research will be conducted until the second week of September 2017," Marlon said, adding that the team had earlier carried out research in Masela, which is one of the islands of Babar.

The result indicates that Masela Island has three distinct archeological characteristics: construction and distribution of ancient settlements, traditional burial trails and sites related to the local history, and remains from the Dutch colonial era that are still well preserved.
(KR-LWA/INE)
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