| Anakalang | |
|---|---|
 Megalithic royal grave stone in Anakalang, Central Sumba. | |
| Location | Sumba, Lesser Sunda Islands, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia |
| Coordinates | 9°35′27″S119°34′28″E / 9.590833°S 119.574433°E |
| Built | Unknown |
  Location in Sumba | |
Anakalang is a village area (desa) and a small kingdom in the western part of Sumba island, in eastern Indonesia. It is noted for numerous megalithic tombs and its quadrangular adzes.
Administratively, the village (desa) of Anakalang is in the district (kecamatan) of Katiku Tana or Katikutana, in Central Sumba Regency (kabupaten Sumba Tengah). [1]
Geographically, it is in a valley at the center of the western part of Sumba island, 115 kilometers (71 mi) west of Waingapu and 25 kilometers (16 mi) north-east of Waikabubak. [2]
It is 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) north of Waibakul, where is found the road that links Tambolaka (60 kilometers (37 mi)) in the north-west to Waingapu in the east. [3] Buses arrive there at regular intervals. [4]
Its area is elongated on a north–south axis, stretching in length to about 7 kilometers (4.3 mi). [2] It includes the traditional village of Pasunga (just off Waibakul) [2]
In 1880, Umbu Dongu Ubini Mesa became the first raja of Anakalang. In 1927, Umbu Sappy Pateduk succeeded to the title [5] and was raja until 1953, gathering much power through multiple strategic marriages. [6] Umbu Remu Samapati was the third raja, and his brother-in-law, Umbu Sulung Ibilona, succeeded him. [7]
Linguistically, Anakalang [a] is part of East Sumba, although politically and geographically it is situated within West Sumba. [8] The women are mainly weavers, making baskets and mats, while the men are involved in string twining etc. Ornaments are taken care of and hidden away for ancestors. [9]
A mass marriage festival is held there every two years, on a date based on the full moon. [10] This major social interaction and display of negotiations are ritualist events, follows strict rules that serve to reinforce and perpetuate social relations. [11]
Sumba island is the last place on Earth where some cultures still follow the traditions of the hill tribes of South-East Asia and commonly build megaliths such as dolmens for collective graves. [12] About 100 megalithic tombs are still built each year (as of 2021). These tombs are more frequent in the west part of Sumba, [13] inhabited by segmentary societies made of clans and of politically autonomous villages. [14]
Anakalang area is noted for its quadrangular adzes and numerous megalithic tombs [15] — although not as numerous as in Wainyapu (near the west coast), who boasts one of the highest concentrations of these megaliths on Sumba with some 1,400 dolmens., [13] which are said to include the best ones in West Sumba. They are large and well decorated and contain unusual carvings. Anakalang is the home of the "Purung Takadonga Ratu", an important queen. [10] [16] The megalithic tombs spread over many villages. [4]
At Pasunga on the main road, there is one of the largest tombs in Sumba. [3] Some 1 km south of the main road from Pasunga, is the traditional village of Kabunduk (Kabonduk) [17] where new and old is mixed. [18]
A megalithic tomb in the village has a stone slab erected vertically. Its carved images date to 1926, having taken six months to complete. The burial ceremony involved the sacrifice of 150 buffaloes; their horns are kept in a local house. [4]
Another tomb is on the same road about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) away at Koboduk village. This tomb is made of concrete and tiles. It is reported to be the largest tomb in Samba. [4]
The largest megalithic grave in Sumba is in Gallubakul, about 3.5 km south of Pasunga: [18] [17] chiseled out of a single rock, it took six years to create and is known as the Umba Saola tomb. It is 5 by 4 meters (16 by 13 ft) and 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) in thickness, weighing 70 metric tons (77 short tons). It was pulled from the hill slope where it was carved over a distance of 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) to the grave site in Anakalang. [4]
Other tombs are on the eastern side of the burial location. These are upright slabs with carvings of the local king and queen, with motifs of buffaloes and cockerels. Close to this tomb, the Raja's son lives with his wife and narrates the story to visitors. [4] [b]
With no radiocarbon dating so far, there is a debate on the exact age of the site. A stone schist grave with three adzes in it is deemed to be post-neolithic though no iron objects were found. The quadrangular adzes found in a small cist do not exhibit characteristics of the Neolithic age and may be post-neolithic. [15]
A dolmen or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting stones to achieve a level appearance. In many instances, the covering has eroded away, leaving only the stone "skeleton".
A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or stone and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age and are found largely in Western Europe. When covered in earth, a passage grave is a type of burial mound which are found in various forms all over the world. When a passage grave is covered in stone, it is a type of cairn.
Sumba, natively also spelt as Humba, Hubba, Suba, or Zuba is an Indonesian island located in the Eastern Indonesia and administratively part of the East Nusa Tenggara provincial territory. Sumba has an area of 11,243.78 square kilometres, about the same size as Jamaica or Hawaii (Island). The population was 686,113 at the 2010 Census and 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 820,506. To the northwest of Sumba is Sumbawa, to the northeast, across the Sumba Strait, is Flores, to the east, across the Savu Sea, is Timor, and to the south, across part of the Indian Ocean, is Australia.
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 structures or arrangements in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one family or social group and were often used over long periods for multiple burials.
Carrowmore is a large group of megalithic monuments on the Coolera Peninsula to the west of Sligo, Ireland. They were built in the 4th millennium BC, during the Neolithic. There are thirty surviving tombs, making Carrowmore one of the largest clusters of megalithic tombs in Ireland, and one of the 'big four' along with Carrowkeel, Loughcrew and Brú na Bóinne. Carrowmore is the heart of an ancient ritual landscape which is dominated by the mountain of Knocknarea to the west. It is a protected National Monument.
Waingapu is the largest town in the eastern half of Sumba island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. It is the capital town of the East Sumba Regency.
Bondowoso Regency is a landlocked regency in East Java, Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,560.10 km2, and had a population of 736,772 at the 2010 Census and 776,151 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 796,911. The most common languages are Madurese and Javanese, although Madurese is the majority. The nearest large city is Surabaya, approximately five hour's drive away.
The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites near the south coast of Brittany in northwestern France, consisting of stone alignments (rows), dolmens, tumuli and single menhirs. More than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were hewn from local granite and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany and form the largest such collection in the world. Most of the stones are within the Breton municipality of Carnac, but some to the east are within neighboring La Trinité-sur-Mer. The stones were erected at some stage during the Neolithic period, probably around 3300 BC, but some may date to as early as 4500 BC.
The Meehambee Dolmen is a megalithic portal tomb dating from about 3500 BC located in County Roscommon, Ireland.
The Tumulus of Bougon or Necropolis of Bougon is a group of five Neolithic barrows located in Bougon, near La-Mothe-Saint-Héray, between Exoudun and Pamproux in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
East Sumba Regency is geographically the largest of the four regencies which divide the island of Sumba, within East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia. It occupies 62% of the entire island, being much less densely populated than the western third. The town of Waingapu is the capital of East Sumba Regency. The population of East Sumba Regency was 227,732 at the 2010 Census and 244,820 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 255,498.
In the area of present-day Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, up to 5,000 megalith tombs were erected as burial sites by people of the Neolithic Funnelbeaker (TRB) culture. More than 1,000 of them are preserved today and protected by law. Though varying in style and age, megalith structures are common in Western Europe, with those in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern belonging to the youngest and easternmost—further east, in the modern West Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland, monuments erected by the TRB people did not include lithic structures, while they do in the south (Brandenburg), west and north (Denmark).
Nordic megalith architecture is an ancient architectural style found in Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia and North Germany, that involves large slabs of stone arranged to form a structure. It emerged in northern Europe, predominantly between 3500 and 2800 BC. It was primarily a product of the Funnelbeaker culture. Between 1964 and 1974, Ewald Schuldt in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania excavated over 100 sites of different types: simple dolmens, extended dolmens, passage graves, great dolmens, unchambered long barrows, and stone cists. In addition, there are polygonal dolmens and types that emerged later, for example, the Grabkiste and Röse. This nomenclature, which specifically derives from the German, is not used in Scandinavia where these sites are categorised by other, more general, terms, as dolmens, passage graves and stone cists.
The simple dolmen or primeval dolmen is an early form of dolmen or megalithic tomb that occurs especially in Northern Europe. The term was defined by archaeologist, Ernst Sprockhoff, and utilised by Ewald Schuldt in publicising his excavation of 106 megalithic sites in the north German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The simple dolmen emerged in the early days of the development of megalithic monuments of the Funnelbeaker culture (TBK) and around 3,500 BC they appeared across almost the entire region covered by the stone cult structures of Nordic megalith architecture, but not in the Netherlands, in Lower Saxony west of the River Weser nor east of the River Oder and only once in Sweden.
A megalithic entrance is an architectonic feature that enables access to a megalithic tomb or structure. The design of the entrance has to seal the access to the cultic structure in such a way that it is possible to gain access to the interior again, even after a long time, in order to perform rituals. To that end, the practitioners of Nordic megalith architecture, the Wartberg culture and Horgen culture, used several variants, that are also found in other megalithic regions in identical or slightly modified form.
The dolmen del prado de Lácara is a megalithic monument known as a passage tomb. It is located northwest of the Spanish city of Mérida, in the province of Badajoz. It is located next to the EX-214 road, which connects Aljucén with La Nava de Santiago. It is a notable megalithic tomb, built during the late Neolithic towards the end of the 4th millennium BC or early 3rd millennium BC. It is one of the most monumental and well preserved sites in the Extremadura region, which is why it was declared a site of cultural interest in 1912 and a National Monument in 1931.
The Sumba people are an ethnic group inhabiting Sumba Island in Indonesia, which is divided by four regencies, namely the Southwest Sumba Regency, West Sumba Regency, Central Sumba Regency, and the East Sumba Regency. They refer to themselves as Tau Humba. The Sumbese have been able to retain much of their culture despite foreign influences that arrived long ago on the Lesser Sunda Islands.
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