Stone Monumentality in Tana Toraja, Indonesia: Initial Ethnoarchaeological Insights

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Stone remains a prominent feature of the natural and cultural landscape of Tana Toraja, Indonesia, where outcropping basalt and limestone karst formations create a dramatic backdrop. In this context, the manipulation of stone is an important aspect of ancient cultural traditions that persist to the present day, but which has received relatively little attention in past ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological documentation in Tana Toraja. The construction of menhirs is part of this stone-working tradition that also includes rock-cut tombs and placement of smaller freestanding stone monuments. Menhirs are quarried, transported, and erected on the occasions of elaborate funerary traditions in Tana Toraja, which can entail complex ritual practices and staggering expenses. This paper offers the results of a preliminary ethnoarchaeological documentation of Torajan menhirs and the methods, logistics, and social dynamics associated with this megalithic tradition. Quarrying and erecting menhirs requires specialized stone workers and can entail a large labor force to transport. Over time, the monuments become enduring memorials of the deceased and associated funerary traditions in a context with an otherwise perishable traditional built environment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39831.0