Pugung Raharjo is the name of an archaeological site located in the regency of South Lampung, Lampung Province, Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

 Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

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The site is situated approximately 50km from the provincial capital, Bandar Lampung

Bandar Lampung

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. The site boasts substantial megalithic and prehistoric remains dating from the 12th to 16th century AD.

History

Pugung Raharjo was occupied from the 12th to 16th century. Artefacts unearthed at the site suggest that the area was strongly under the influence of the Palembang-based Sriwijaya Empire. Finds of beads and Chinese porcelain indicate that the people of the area were also linked to international trade networks which visited the nearby Sunda Strait. The site was uncovered in the 1950s when transmigrants from Java and Bali moved into the area and started to clear the jungle. The site is now preserved as a national monument.

Design

The site is surrounded by trenches and protective earthworks. The site was clearly a fortified community. This was probably to necessary to protect locals from attacks from pirates passing through the nearby Sunda Strait, a major waterway within ancient Indian Ocean trade networks. Within the walls is a cluster of phallic, stone megaliths. The most substantial remaining monument is a large, terraced earthwork temple. There are various smaller temple mounds within the walls. A small museum is the nearby village of Pugung Raharjo houses a collection of finds from the site, including some impressive statues that are often described as being 'Polynesian' in style.