Looting of artifacts in Indonesian seas creates big headache
Looting of artifacts in Indonesian seas creates big headache
By Rita A. Widiadana
JAKARTA (JP): The latest frenzy concerning the discoveries,
excavations and lootings of antique Chinese ceramics and old
artifacts in Indonesia's waters have worried Indonesian
archaeologists and ceramicists.
Thousands of priceless ceramic pieces, untouched and hidden in
shipwrecks for centuries in Indonesian waters, have been salvaged
and looted by fortune hunters over the last few years.
The Riau, Bangka and Belitung waters in Sumatra, Cirebon and
Banten in West Java; Jepara in Central Java, Tuban and Gilimanuk
in East Java; Bali, Halmahera and Tidore in Maluku, Flores in
East Nusa Tenggara; as well as Ujungkrawang and Blanakan in West
Java were home to ancient Chinese, European and Southeast Asian
ceramics and, most probably, gold bars, silver and other valuable
items.
Sumarah Adhiyatman, chairwoman of the Indonesian Ceramics
Society, says that all the excavated ceramics must be saved first
for scientific studies.
"The majority of salvage companies operating in Indonesia only
search for underwater treasures to make money and rarely think
about the scientific and historical value of each items," Sumarah
noted.
She went on to say that since the Dutch Colonial period, it
was believed that many vessels and warships which belonged to
Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern and European traders or army
troops whose ships sank in Indonesian waters brought with them
precious ceramics, gemstones, weapons and other trade
commodities.
No one dared to start exploring these hidden treasures until
British-born captain Michael Hatcher shocked the world with his
tremendous discoveries taken from the Dutch shipwrecked
Geldermalsen in Riau, Sumatra in l986.
Hatcher succeeded in pocketing US$16 million from the sale of
16,000 Chinese ceramic pieces, 126 gold bars and other artifacts
at an auction at Christie's in Amsterdam
"People were blinded and wanted to repeat Hatcher's luck.
everybody was racing to dig up the real treasure, long believed
by many to be part of ancient legends," Sumarah said.
Although no salvage companies have been as successful as
Hatcher, they discovered a great deal of ancient ceramics, ivory
and other metals of significant historical and archaeological
value.
"I know they actually want gold and other precious metals, but
they found an abundance of important ceramic pieces instead," she
said.
Sumarah said Chinese ceramics found in Indonesia, both in the
sea and on land, mostly originated from the Sung Dynasty (960-
1280), the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368), the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
and the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1912).
There were also ceramics from Thailand (15th century and 16th
century), usually found with ceramics from China and Vietnam
(Anammese).
The most common ceramics to be found in Indonesia are green-
glazed wares, conventionally called celadon. Celadon were common
Chinese exports before the introduction of blue and white wares.
Ching pai (from the Sung and Yuan dynasties) -- white-glazed
pots, jars, bowls and cover boxes found in Bali and Sulawesi and
Kota Cina.
Yellow-gray ware (southern Sung dynasty) found in Kota Cina,
South Sumatra, and South Sulawesi in the form of spouts, small
bowls, while te hua wares (white glazeware) from the Yuan dynasty
were found in several places, including Tuban.
"It is a pity most of salvage companies do not know how to
determine and appraise the value, quality and authenticity of
those ceramics," she said.
Besides, they rarely hired local archaeologists and ceramic
experts as they feared their findings would be reported to the
state, she added.
Important
For archaeologists, historians, ceramicists and other related
experts, the study of ceramics and pottery has an important
bearing on social, cultural, political and economic aspects of a
society in a certain period, she said.
Ceramics have been used by people as a measure of wealth,
social status and artistic and technological achievement for
thousands of years, explained Sumarah, one of Indonesia's
prominent ceramic experts.
Ceramics were also used by archaeologists as essential
indicators to determine ancient maritime and trade routes, the
spots of human settlements, centers of kingdoms, seaports and the
conditions of old civilizations.
According to A.B. Lapian, a professor of maritime history, the
Indonesian archipelago was part of Asian and European ancient
maritime and trade routes, known as the silk route.
Therefore, it possibly had important ports for foreign vessels
which brought priceless commodities, including European, Chinese
and Southeast Asian ceramics.
The findings of Chinese ceramics in Tuban suggested the link
between the Chinese Yuan dynasty (between the 12th century and
13th century) led by Khubilai Khan, the descendant of Mongolian
Gengis Khan, the old Javanese Kingdom of Kediri and later
Singasari in East Java.
On Belitung island, a large number of ceramics from the Tang
dynasty (between the 7th century and 8th century) were smuggled
to foreign countries like Germany and New Zealand.
"The findings of Tang's ceramics was significant evidence of
trade between Nusantara (ancient Indonesia, China and Southeast
Asia) and they date back as far as the 7th century," she said.
More importantly, these ceramics were found in an Arabic
vessel. "This means that since that period, we had already had
foreign contacts with China and the Arab world," Sumarah said.
Smuggling
Head of Cultural Preservation at the Directorate General for
Culture Harry Untoro complained that the salvage, looting and
smuggling of underwater treasures, including ceramics, had caused
a great loss to the archaeological world.
"We lost a lot of invaluable historic data which most salvage
companies do not even understand and care about," said Harry.
He charged that the underwater ceramics were excavated and
treated unprofessionally by the salvage companies.
"They do not know how to deal with these archaeological
treasures," Harry said.
Ceramics which have been underwater need special treatment,
including proper conservation, maintenance and storage
techniques.
Thousands of antique ceramics were now in poor conditions in
various storage areas because of the companies' ignorance and
recklessness, Harry maintained.
"They are stupid if they want to sell their findings in such
conditions in the international art market," he said.
Legal auction houses and respectable art collectors do not
easily accept low-quality ceramics, especially when they bear no
legal certificates from official institutions.
"There is nothing wrong them with selling their findings as
long as they follow the regulations, meaning they have to succumb
part of their rare collections to the government for scientific
purposes," he said.
But, as usual, the penny-pinching hunters will not let other
people lay their hands on their treasure.