Hidden treasures abound in neglected Bali museum
By Putu Wirata
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Gilimanuk Archeology Museum in Jembrana, western Bali, is languishing. The seaside museum consists of a two-story building where the collections are badly displayed.
Unlike other places of attraction on the tourist island, there are hardly any tourists visiting the museum, which is run by the Jembrana regency's tourism office.
The museum boasts a vast collection of items of invaluable historical value. It has a collection of the remains of people believed to have lived in Gilimanuk more than 2,000 years ago. Excavation began in 1962 when RP Soejono from the Bali provincial office of archeology discovered tools of prehistoric humans in Cekik village, Gilimanuk.
The discovery led researchers to comb the coasts where they subsequently found fragments of human and animal remains, ceramics, bronze appliances and silver works. The fist excavation project took place from 1963 through 1964.
The project discovered human tombs containing skeletal remains, bronze equipment, kettles and strings of beads. From 1964 onward, the excavation has been conducted on a regular basis.
To accommodate the findings, the museum was built in the 1980s. But the museum is poorly managed. Little information is available. There is not a single brochure about the prehistoric collections. The building is manned by a guard who lives near the museum.
A Jembrana regency government official said he came to the museum once a week to check on visitors.
"The museum is isolated so how could it attract visitors?" he said with a bitter smile.
The collections are arranged unsystematically without proper information. There is no way visitors can obtain a picture about the Gilimanuk prehistoric humans.
A researcher, Verstappen, Gilimanuk artifact site consists of five "ponds". Gilimanuk is sandwiched between the first and second pond at four to five meters above sea level.
Archeologists theorize that civilization began in Gilimanuk some 2000 years ago. Paleo-anthropological research shows that the population consisted of a Mongoloid race which shared the characteristics of Melanesian.
It is yet to be found why the people lived for only 200 years in Gilimanuk. Scientists theorize that they might have been killed or driven off by epidemic diseases.
Researchers have found that the people fell ill at the age of between 20 and 30. The death rate has been thought to reach 30 per 100 stricken people.
The lethal diseases were those caused by an excessive deposit of calcium in the kidney because they drank water from dug wells contaminated with lime. Research also shows that many people also suffered diseases affecting the lower jaw, skull deformation and bone fracture.
Scientists also discovered skeletal remains of pigs, dogs, birds, mice, fish and truncheons, suggesting that the animals were an important part of the prehistoric people's life.
The several hectares of land around the museum is part of the excavation project.
The human skeletal remains of the Gilimanuk humans can be of great interest to international scientists. If the collections of the museum are presented and promoted more professionally, they are likely to attract visitors as well. However the locality of the museum is a problem for its development. It lies in a remote area and the building lacks architectural charm as a museum.
Gilimanuk is an important transit port for visitors who arrive or depart from Bali through the Bali Strait. Buildings of the 40's stand out in the coastal town however, there is nothing to suggest that Gilimanuk is rich in historical artifacts.