Ninth century wooden houses found

A team of archeologists from the Yogyakarta Archeological Center have reportedly found three wooden houses, believed to be part of a village from the 9th century Ancient Mataram Kingdom.

The excavation, located in Liyangan, Purbasari subdistrict, Ngadirejo, Temanggung, was conducted from April 14-20 by a team comprising researchers Baskoro Daru Tjahjono, Sugeng Riyanto and Heri Priswanto with the assistance of Mujiono and Didik Santosa.

"One of the houses is still intact, one is partially-intact and the other is severely damaged," Baskoro told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He added his team believed the houses were made of wood because they all had turned to charcoal possibly due to the eruption of Mt. Sindoro in the 9th century.

The extremely high temperature from the eruption turned the wooden houses into charcoal before they were buried by time.

He said the find, thanks to sand miners who first spotted the objects, was considered spectacular because it was the first time such a find had been made in Indonesia.

The team's belief that the houses came from the 9th century, according to Baskoro, was supported by the fact that a temple had also been found in the same site in 2008.

"The sand miners here were aware of the importance of ancient buildings. That's why they are extremely careful when they find stone constructions," he said.

"Yet, when they found charcoals, they had no idea they were part of important ancient constructions so they kept on digging," said Baskoro, explaining why one of the houses had been severely damaged when the team arrived on the site.

Sugeng Riyanto said that being reduced to charcoal had made the houses more resistant to aging.

He added the team also found a bronze Rukam script written in ancient Javanese letters not far from the site.

Other findings at the site include Tang Dynasty ceramics and earthenware lamps.

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Temanggung, Central Java