Yesterday, we woke up early and went for a walk to the coast through the shrimp farms, there were a lot of ceramics scattered around. We also walked through the swamp at the back of the Chinese Temple, where we spotted ceramics as well as a Chinese tomb stone. After this we had a house visit to Rani’s, an Indonesian archaeologist who has been helping processing the artefacts found at Surosowan Palace over the last two years, farm which is a one-hour drive away. We had a wonderful lunch of catfish and a traditional East Javanese dish of coconut and chicken. On the way back we stopped at Istana Kaibon, the Queen’s Palace, which was the home of the wives of Sultans of Banten. It was an interesting day and a great break from excavation.
Sherds littered everywhere right on the surface of the walking paths of the shrimp farms
Istana Kaibon
Today, was the last day of excavation and my second last day in Banten, as I’m heading home early for university which begins on the 25th July. The local workers helped bring down the rest of the southern end of the unit to about 2 ½ metres below the datum point, where we have been concentrating our efforts over the past weeks. Christabel and I sorted through the very muddy clay that was coming out, which felt a lot like playing in the mud, and to our great surprise we found a lot of artefacts. These included large pieces of blue and white porcelain, stoneware, and earthenware, as well as some animal bones (including a mandible that most likely belongs to a dog) and large shells. Michael was on washing duty and he cleaned up the artefacts that we pulled out. In the unit, the workers reached the water table and used a pump to extract the water. Finally, the artefacts thinned out and we hit sterile grey clay. It was an exciting morning as the excavation was coming to an end and we thought that there would not be any more artefacts to be found.
Christabel and I sorting through muddy clay and wet sand while Michael washes the artefacts
Our unit
In the afternoon, we headed over to Pak Sarji’s unit, which was opened outside the fortifications against the stone walls. We took a soil sample for micromorphological analysis, which Kay will take back to the U.S. to get analysed in the lab. We also took a core sample of the unit as well, which will be sent to a lab to be analysed. Overall, the general feeling is that the excavation has been a success. Tomorrow, analysis and processing of the artefacts found shall begin. Look out for Christabel and Michael’s posts over the next week!
Love,
Cherylyn
Archaeology in Banten Lama 