Gunung Padang: Where Meanings and Archaeologies Coalesce

Authors

Sindhunata Hargyono, Universitas Indonesia

Abstract

This paper looks at 21st C Gunung Padang as the site where archaeologies’ imaginations coalesce. Specifically, this paper looks at the way Gunung Padang is interpreted by different political communities, such as, international pseudoarchaeologists and indigenous people. I argue that pseudoarchaeologists engage with Gunung Padang to further their classic “rouge researchers” narrative. While geographically proximate self-identified indigenous people engage with the archaeological site to manufacture cultural continuity with the non-culture, yet, exceptional ancestors. This paper also takes Gunung Padang as a tool to problematize the literature that tries to draw boundary between pseudoarchaeology and (real) archaeology. Ultimately, I argue that the intimacy between a fraction of Indonesian archaeologists and international pseudoarchaeologist as symptomatic to the reversing relationship between pseudoarchaeology and archaeology—especially the one with heavy public orientation.

References

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Recommended Citation

Hargyono, Sindhunata (2014) "Gunung Padang: Where Meanings and Archaeologies Coalesce," Antropologi Indonesia: Vol. 35: Iss. 2, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/jai/vol35/iss2/1