REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAYAPURA -- A team of archaeologists has discovered pottery artifacts of Papua New Guinea on the Kwadeware Island of Sentani Lake in the Jayapura District of Papua Province.
"Kwadeware is a small island located at the center of the Sentani Lake. The archaeologists found many pottery fragments in the soil," a researcher from the Jayapura Archaeology Center, Hari Suroto, said on Saturday.
Kwadeware Island has a rectangular shape, with a lower surface area in the center of the island, while the higher surface is located at the edge of north and south portions of the island.
The researcher found several hand-prints near the fragments, which could help predict the production process.
The archaeologists also found that some pottery pieces have a scorched color, which proves that the producers burnt the object in open air conditions and did not use an ancient stove.
"After the researchers reconstructed the pottery, we successfully identified the object as a crock and pot," Hari said.
He further pointed out that it could be safely assumed that the Kwadeware Island was an open habitation site for the ancient people of Papua.
"If seen from the site located in the middle of Sentani Lake, we can assume that during the prehistoric period, the ancient people who lived on Kwadeware Island utilized local natural resources," Hari said.
The archaeologist also concluded that the ancient people used sago and snails as food resources and used the pottery as a container to store the food.
"The observation of soil type in Kwadeware proves that the ancient people had found it difficult to create pottery. It also proves that they brought the pottery from other places," Hari added.
Meanwhile, the patterns found on the Kwadeware pottery fragments are similar to the pattern of potteries found in the Lachitu and Taora Caves in Vanimo of Papua New Guinea.
"We can assume that during the prehistoric period, there was contact between the ancient people on the Sentani Lake and the Vanimo area in Papua New Guinea," the researcher said.
