If you want to come to the resident of Bandung ancient people? Pay a visit to Pawon Cave, located in the karst Citatah, in Gunung Masigit Village, Cipatat District, West Bandung Regency, West Java-Indonesia. The distance is about 25 kilometers from central Bandung. Arriving at the right side of Highway Padalarang-Cianjur or left of the direction of Jakarta, the site will be visible signposts. From there, the location still to be again about 2 miles. Access road uphill and down and is still rocky. In the rainy season, the road was muddy.
The place was discovered by three geologists from the Bandung Institute of Technology (Institut Teknologi Bandung/ITB), ie Budi Brahmantyo, Eko Yulianto, and Johan Aril. At first they were just a walk in the area in July 1999, while dreaming of fossil fish found there. It turned out that Eko found limestone shaped like a knife. "It could be in the neighborhood there are prehistoric people," said Budi Brahmantyo that time.
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Allegation is not mere wishful thinking, but based on memory about finding stone artifacts in jungle Dago Pakar by foreign researchers. Also previous archaeological facts about prehistoric human skeleton found in the cave. Three months later, the trio of researchers came again. They are more serious this time to observe. "We welcomed the heavy rain bat droppings," said Budi, recalling the moment.
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| Pawon Cave and karst Citatah in Cipatat, West Bandung Regency, West Java. (Picture from: KORAN TEMPO 3811) |
Not giving up, in 2000, they began prying the ground in some places in the cave. When he was in a room where the land is flat, not dry but not humid, they call it the Coffee Cave. With the tool geomagnet, Coffee Cave area 3.5 x 7 meters was divided into grid measuring 50 square centimeters, and then scanned. Negative results are the metal content. This means that there is a possibility of non metal objects buried in there.
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| Hominid fossils were found in Pawon Cave. (Picture from: http://ronalys.blogspot.com/) |
Late 2000, armed with the permission of local neighborhood chairman, who also dug, Budi, Eko, and Sujatmiko dig a hole about the size of 100 x 60 meters with a depth of 50 centimeters. When they dig as deep as 10 cm, all of a sudden there is a shiny object that recoils exposed to hoe. Excavation be stopped. Their task now was to find objects that came out. Once found, they cheered.
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| Officers assisted the Bandung Institute for Archaeology (Balai Arkeologi Bandung) and the Institute of Antiquities, History, and Traditional Values (Balai Kepurbakalaan, Sejarah, dan Nilai Tradisional) excavating Pawon Cave, Padalarang, West Java, on Wednesday (08/25/2010). The excavation on August 23, 2010 to 2 September 2010 found various tools of prehistoric people. (Picture from: http://hurahura.wordpress.com/) |
It was a bit of piece of obsidian rock that looks like a shard of glass. Though the cave was located in karst areas. They believe that the stone was brought there in the past. They're even more excited to dig. Until finally collected two bags of broken pottery, stone tools, obsidian, jasper green, andesite, the rest of the plant, pecan shells, snails, crabs, and the monkey jaw. Intact rock is andesite mangoes used for early humans to grind. After the initial research was to form a research group at the Bandung Basin December 12, 2000, further excavations submitted to the Bandung Institute of Archaeology (Balai Arkeologi Bandung).
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| Natural Bridge Gunung Hawu awaiting destruction. Limestone quarrying took place intensively at the bottom of the front and side. (Picture from: http://geologi.iagi.or.id/) |
Budi sure of obsidian tools came from, from a place far from the cave. Rocks are thought to have come from Nagrek areas, which is about 30 km away. "It's possible the manufacturing plant at Dago Pakar which is about 20 kilometers away," he said. They might have been able to deal with how to barter goods. The proof, no trace of marine animals on the site. While animals can be hunted on the land around the cave, which was once surrounded by marshes. Ancient man lurking freely because the location of the cave is quite high.
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| Pasir Pawon with its stone garden, stunningly beautiful and thank God it has been successfully saved. (Picture from: http://geologi.iagi.or.id/) |
Researchers are still trying to solve the mystery of the whole edifice caves used for daily activities, rituals, and funerals. There are still about 37 other caves around Pawon, thought to be the home of prehistoric man had ever interconnected. Tanjung Cave, known to leave artifacts and human bones, have been destroyed by mining activities. The researchers now must race to permit mining in karst Citatah areas.
Home of prehistoric people in the cave's natural it looked like an ancient stone hotel. The entrance is quite challenging because we must pursue the foot of the rugged limestone rocks and hollow like a rock. The second challenge is to resist the smell and avoid the rain stings bat droppings.
Cave over an area of 300 square meters consists of a cavity such as rooms and several large natural window. Lane road to the top, the place is ancient human graveyard, seemed like a maze. But do not worry when it deviated from the path. Therefore, the cave was quite sunny.
That's where the people was alleged to have inhabited the city of Bandung in the 5,600 to 9,500 years ago. Their age was not long, reaching an only average of 17-35 years. Therefore, they only eat from the forest around the cave, such as marine fish and monkeys, to survive, "Allegedly, due to such a diet, the average age they are not as old as modern people," said archaeologist from the Bandung Institute of Archaeology, Lutfi Yondri. *** [ANWAR SISWADI | KORAN TEMPO 3811]
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