The Cultural Legacy of Makassar Stone in East Timor
2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/14442213.2012.674054
ISSN1740-9314
AutoresAndrew McWilliam, David Bulbeck, Sally Brockwell, Sue O’Connor,
Tópico(s)Maritime and Coastal Archaeology
ResumoAbstract During research on the archaeology and ethnohistory of fortified settlements in East Timor, a series of old graves was recorded with masonry features that local Timorese referred to as 'Makassar stone' (M: Batu Makassar, or Makassar mataru in the Fataluku vernacular). Oral histories of Fataluku-speaking communities associate the grave styles with traders from Sulawesi who developed a major maritime network from the late sixteenth century. While the stone used in the Timorese graves is clearly of local origin, the use of similar stonework for grave construction in seventeenth-century Makassar graves in Sulawesi suggests the possibility of close links between the two societies, including the extension of Islamic influences into East Timor at this time. In the following paper, we evaluate a range of evidence for these associations, including a seventeenth-century Islamic burial of a high-born Sulawesi woman near the port of Hera in East Timor. Keywords: MakassarEast TimorGravesFortificationDressed Stone Notes 1. The research was conducted under an Australian Research Council Discovery Project entitled, Cultural and Environmental Shifts in East Timor: Evidence for Climate Change over the Last Millennium. We acknowledge the support of the Government of Timor-Leste, the Australian National University and numerous Fataluku colleagues in East Timor. We are grateful for the comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers. 2. These dates reflect the period when the majority of Timorese indigenous fortifications were established. 3. Local sensitivities and the spiritual significance of these old graves preclude the possibility of excavation and direct dating. 4. Standing stones such as these are representational markers of spirit guardians of place (tei, rai nain) and remain important sites of periodic sacrificial veneration. 5. Ethnographic information on which the present paper is based, derives from a wide range of discussions and interviews with local Timorese residents and archaeological assistants drawn from the villages of Pitilete (Tutuala), Com, Moro-Parlamento, Laclo and, more recently, the township of Laleia where field research has been conducted over 2007–11. Methodologically the information gathered on the Makassar stone material has been based on a broadly consistent set of observations and commentary by multiple Timorese interlocuters in relation to the provenance of the material they refer to 'Makassar stone'. It forms part of an evidently shared cultural memory, even if the details and origins of the term itself remain obscure to the majority. No Timorese we spoke with identified the occupants of the Makassar stone graves as anything other than Timorese ancestors. 6. The first recorded Portuguese proselytising on Timor is associated with one Frei António Taveira, thought to be from the Franciscan order, who was sent to the island in 1556 by his senior, Frei António da Cruz, from their base on the island of Solor (Sousa 1767, p. 282; Lobato 2000 Lobato , M. 2000 'Timor' , in História dos Portugueses noExtremo Oriente A.H. de Oliveira Marques , Fundação Oriente , Lisboa , vol. 1 , no. 2 , pp. 351 – 74 . [Google Scholar], p. 358). It is not clear where Taveira pursued his missionary activities, but he is reported to have converted up to 5000 'pagan souls' (Fernandes 1992 Fernandes, F. 1992. Das missões de Timor. Revista de Estudos Luso-Asiaticos, 1: 9–20. [Google Scholar], p. 10). A later effort was mounted in 1589 by Frei Belchior da Luz, who landed at Mena on the northwest coast and persuaded the local ruler to adopt Christianity and construct the first recorded church on the island (Gunn 1999 Gunn, G. 1999. Timor Lorosae: 500 Years, Macau: Livros do Oriente. [Google Scholar], p. 73). Six months later the efforts were apparently abandoned. A number of poorly documented missionising attempts followed, until the more concerted and successful efforts of Frei António de São Jacinto in 1641–2 who, with his Dominican colleagues, won converts and firmly established their order in a number of Timorese 'kingdoms'(reino) from Luca in the southeast of the island to Kupang (Cupao) in the far west (Gunn 1999 Gunn, G. 1999. Timor Lorosae: 500 Years, Macau: Livros do Oriente. [Google Scholar], pp. 73–78; de Sá 1952, pp. 62–65; Matos 1974 Matos, A. T.de. 1974. Timor Português, 1515-1769: Contribução para a sua história, Lisboa: Instituto Histórico Infante Dom Henrique, Universidade Lisboa [Série Ultramarina2]. [Google Scholar], pp. 109–10, Leitão 1948 Leitão, H. 1948. Os Portugueses em Solor e Timor de 1515 a 1702, Lisboa: Liga dos Combatentes de Grande Guerra. [Google Scholar]; Fernandes 1992 Fernandes, F. 1992. Das missões de Timor. Revista de Estudos Luso-Asiaticos, 1: 9–20. [Google Scholar], pp. 13–4). By the middle of the seventeenth century Timor was reported to have some 22 established churches (Felgas 1956 Felgas , H. A. E. 1956 Timor Português , Agência Geral do Ultramar,Divisão de Publicaçōes e Biblioteca, Ministério do Ultramar, Monografias dos Territórios do Ultramar, Lisboa . [Google Scholar], p. 225; see also Rouffaer 1923 Rouffaer, G. P. 1923. Chronologie der Dominikaner-missie op Solor en Flores, voor al Poeloe Ende, ca.1556-1638; En bibliographie over het Ende-fort. Nederlandsch Indië, Oud en Nieuw, 8: 256–60. [Google Scholar] for notes on the chronology of the Dominican mission in the Solor-Flores region). 7. Sultan Mudhaffar is accredited in Makassar texts with 'conquering' Timor in 1640. See also Spillet 1999 The Pre-Colonial History of the Island of Timor Together with Some Notes on the Makassan Influence in the Island. 8. Spillet has provided a scanned image of the headstone which allows for independent corroboration of Bugis lontara script and its reference to Wehiriya. We note that a correction to the date of burial is warranted given that AH 1052 actually began on CE 1 April 1642 and not 1632 as asserted by Spillet (pers comm. Campbell Macknight). The revised date actually fits well with the chronology of Makassar-Bugis engagement outlined in this paper. 9. To give just one example that highlights the duration of these relationships over long periods of time, Pélissier reports on a punitive Portuguese Colonial expedition to the region of Sama in eastern Timor (located to the west of present day Lautem) in September 1847 against the presence of Macassar or more likely Bugis pirates and slave traders operating along the coast there. The Bugis evidently got the better of the Colonial force and subsequently, Pélissier reports that 70 Bugis managed to resist the attack of a 3000 strong armed force of Timorese auxilliary troops for four and a half months. The Portuguese Governor at the time, Julião José da Silva Vieirra (1844–48), suspected complicity between the Bugis and local Timorese of the Fataluku kingdom (reino) of Sarau (which included the area of Lautem and Moro-Parlamento) and ordered a further expedition to punish the reino and exact vengeance for their collusion (Pélissier 1996 Pélissier, R. 1996. Timor en Guerra: le crocodile et les Portugais (1847–1913), Paris: Pélissier. [Google Scholar], p. 25). 10. Torres, for instance, commenting on maritime trading strategies in the Arafura Sea, and possibly referring to traders out of the powerful Sultanates of Ternate or Tidore in 1607, noted that: 'At the extremity of this country (Maluku) we found some clothed Moors, with artillery for service, such as falconets and swivel guns, arquebuses and white weapons. They go conquering these people who are named Papuas and preach to them the sect of Mahomed'. (Markham Sir C. 1944, p. 464, Letter of Luis Vaez de Torres, 12 July 1607). 11. One possible source for Spillet's reference is the seventeenth-century map by Isaac de Graaf (ca.1667–1743) entitled Kaart van Timor en de Kleine Soendasche Eilanden (Timor and Lesser Sunda Islands), ca.1695. [Leupe Catalogue, National Archives of the Netherlands, No. Vel 0453]. A later version by Jasper Gentet (1739) Kaart van de oosterlijke Kleine Soenda-Eilanden [Chart of the Eastern Lesser Sunda Islands], is very similar with the same positioning of the reference to 'Makassars River' (see Roever and Brommer 2008 Roever, A. de and Brommer, B. 2008. Groote Atlas van de Verenigte Oost-Indische Compagnie, Vol. III, Indische Archipel en Oceanie, Voerburg: Atlas Maior. [Google Scholar], p. 223). Additional informationNotes on contributorsAndrew McWilliamAndrew McWilliam is a Senior Fellow in Anthropology, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National UniversityDavid BulbeckDavid Bulbeck is a Senior Research Associate in Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National UniversitySally BrockwellSally Brockwell is a Research Fellow in Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National UniversitySue O'ConnorSue O'Connor is Professor of Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University
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