LONG-DISTANCE OBSIDIAN TRADE IN INDONESIA

Long-distance trade in obsidian from sources in Melanesia, Polynesia and New Zealand already has been well-documented for the Lapita cultural complex in the southwest Pacific, ca. 1600-1000 BC. New analyses of obsidian excavated by Chia at the archaeological site of Bukit Tengkorak in southeastern Sabah (Borneo) indicates that obsidian also was traded extensively in Malaysia, as early as the 5th millennium BC. Quantitative elemental analyses by electron microprobe using wavelength dispersive spectrometers of artifacts from this site indicate that obsidian from four distinct sources was utilized. One of these has been identified as Talasea in New Britain, more than 3000 km away; another source in the Admiralty Islands may also be present. The locations of the other two obsidian sources represented at Bukit Tengkorak are unknown, but as yet untested sources may exist in Indonesia or the Philippines. The knowledge that interactions between island southeast Asia and the western Pacific were common three millennia prior to the Lapita colonization strengthens the hypothesis that these people originated in southeast Asia. Further research on obsidian distribution patterns in Indonesia will enhance our understanding of cultural relations between these regions.