Residents uncover ancient artefacts during tomb excavation in West Lombok Regency
Mataram (ANTARA) - A number of residents have found ancient furnishings in the form of pottery and dozens of ceramic bowls during the dismantling of a tomb in Dusun Kebon Orong, Dasan Baru Village, Kediri Sub-district, West Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara Province (NTB). The discovery of items believed to be hundreds of years old subsequently drew public attention after the video went viral on social media.
“We hope the collection will be preserved and reported to the NTB Cultural Service or the NTB Cultural Heritage Assessment Agency (Badan Pengkajian Kebudayaan - BPK NTB) so it can be studied further,” said Ahmad Nuralam, Head of the NTB Museum, contacted in Mataram on Saturday.
Based on preliminary discussions with the team of cultural custodians, he said, a brief impression is that the pottery found by the community is local pottery. The various ceramic bowls are most likely from East Asia, such as China or nearby countries.
“Storing them appears to have a specific purpose that needs to be investigated further with the Cultural Heritage Expert Team,” said Nuralam.
He said there is an initiative by the West Lombok Regency Government to conduct studies related to the formation of West Lombok Regional Museum. The pottery and ceramic bowls found could become part of the initial collection if the plan to establish the regional museum in West Lombok Regency comes to fruition.
“I think it is very good if compensation is provided to the community for it to become the initial collection of the West Lombok Museum, should the plan proceed to completion,” he said.
The video of the discovery of the ancient furnishings went viral on Instagram after showing residents discovering a number of pottery and ceramics during the tomb-dismantling process. The 48-second clip was shared by the account @lalu_april04, then re-shared by @insidelombok on 22 May 2026. To date there has been no official determination regarding the age or status of the items as cultural heritage.