Tracing the Mysteries of the Island of Java

io9.com...
ENGRAVINGS ON A 300,000 YEAR OLD JAVA SHELL
"Archaeologist Stephen Munro nearly fell off his chair when he noticed patterns of straight lines purposefully etched on a fossilized clamshell. The engravings were half a million years old, which meant they'd been made by a Homo erectus—an extinct human species that predated Homo sapiens by upwards of 300,000 years.

"In addition to the engravings, Munroe and his colleagues found shells that were carefully crafted into specialized tools. Taken together, these discoveries suggest that Homo erectus was far more sophisticated than previously believed and capable of symbolic thought.

"It is a fascinating discovery," says Colin Renfrew, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge. "The earliest abstract decoration in the world is really big news."

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(So who were these ancient Javanese? And is there any indication that they might have been colonized and/or taught by ETs?)

Java's Sukoh Temple has been called everything from a Mayan Pyramid to a 15th century Temple to a replica of Mount Gunung Lawu. The builders are a mystery, since it doesn't seem connected or consistent with other "Javanese Hindu and Buddhist temples". Called an "erotic" temple, a fertility cult was associated with it and some of the carvings are very explicit.

www.pbase.com...
CANDI SUKUH TEMPLE IN JAVA
"It’s a quiet, isolated place with a strange, potent atmosphere... Built in the 15th century during the declining years of the Majapahit kingdom, Candi Sukuh seems to have nothing whatsoever to do with other Javanese Hindu and Buddhist temples. The origins of its builders and strange sculptural style (with crude, squat and distorted figures carved in the wayang style found in East Java) remain a mystery and it seems to mark a reappearance of the pre-Hindu animism that existed 1500 years before."

www.pbase.com...
PHOTOS OF SUKOH TEMPLE
Photos in the third row are interesting, including a winged diety, and a bug-eyed demon with a club. (Click the photo to see an enlargement.)

Also a "rough" carving of what looks like a ram-headed warrior raising another man off the ground with a rope. (Note a separate smaller rope tied to the warrior's waist and also curved upward. Did they have a form of anti-gravity?) And note the smaller/shorter warrior behind him, with shield and helmet.

www.balibeyond.com...
CULTURE OF WAYANG PUPPETRY
A Performance Art of shadow puppets, supposedly started in their older palaces, as entertainment for the royals.

(NOTE: Shadow puppets were also used for "instruction," which is a good way for a more sophisticated culture (ETs?) to teach a primitive culture thru entertainment.)

www.amazon.com...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417711186&sr=1-1&keywords=country+and+cultu re+of+Java
BACK DOOR JAVA
"In this fine ethnography, Jan Newberry illuminates the mundane, yet important, ways in which the Indonesian state has entered the lives of women and their families. What we see is neither top-down control nor the 'authentic' traditional community, but rather an interactive dynamic in which the state and community shape each other. Exhibiting similarities to the patterns of cooperation used in Japan to create 'good citizens' and advance economic development, her Indonesian case will interest scholars of East and Southeast Asia alike."

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Temple carvings showing different-sized people and possibly anti-gravity? All on what some scholars say started out as a Mayan Pyramid? And its blatant erotic nature could have started out, like the ziggurats in Mesopotamia, with top-most homes (or where their craft could rest) for visiting ETs/gods who expected attractive locals to be their sex slaves.

Add the 'shadow-puppet' "instructional and entertainment" venue, and today you have a socialistic-type society where "domestic work is based on local ideas of community cooperation and support, but also on the Indonesian government's use of women as unpaid social workers. Consequently, women are a pivotal point in both state-sponsored programs of domesticity and in the local practice of community exchange managed from individual houses."

Sounds like ET-Intervention to me!

Interesting, very interesting. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say E.T. did not tell cavemen to use shells to make tools. Lol

a reply to: Bovah

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say E.T. did not tell cavemen to use shells to make tools. Lol"

I suggest you re-read the io9 article. The 300,000 year old Javanese shell had been incised with lines. Indicating either writing/communication or decorative-arts, both of which are extremely rare pre-history examples - especially from an extinct, pre-homo sapien species.

I bet I am related to these people, I'm hooked on Java. I have at least five cups a day.

Sorry about being off topic OP. I read about the clamshells yesterday. S&F

Awesome thread!!!!

I have been interested in the history and culture of the Java region for a while. It looks like I'll be spending a few weeks in late May 2015 just outside Bandung in west Java studying some indigenous arts . Not quite east Java and the Yogyakarta area but I bet there has got to be something related in west java. The Sundanese people inhabit the region to this day and are closely related to the original indian empires that controlled those islands. They might know about some of the ancient history as handed down to them over time. I'll research and ask around when I go. If there are any temples of interest in west java that you think might be related, I'll see if I can get it on my itinerary and IM you photos of them while there.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

APA kabar, I'm a very jealous that you are going to java, I have not been to Bandung yet it it next on my list next time i go. I am drinking kopi java right now. Have a great trip .

a reply to: Cloudbuster

Apa Kabar Teman Cloudbuster. Mucho Hormat to you.

I'll be making a thread when I get back with lots a pictures. And maybe some videos of cimande buah.

Did I mention my Bahasa is terrible?

My Bahasa is not good either, my husband is from Surabaya Java, but I only speak a little bit, I'm hot I'm cold I'm hungry extra, most of the words I know are because they are the same as or one letter different from Maori. Amazing how language follow with migration across thousands of km of sea and years. a reply to: BASSPLYR

Thanks for all the great comments! For those lucky few who will be going to Java in 2015, PLEASE start a thread when you get back, or add to this one.

Here are some articles on the curious Indonesian affection for swastikas (meaning "good fortune" in their religions), and how they've inevitably been re-purposed toward the Nazis.

www.flickr.com...
THE ANCIENT JAVA - MEMBERS ONLY
But you can still check out "Recent Photos" under
Most are not from Java, but still gorgeous. However, check out this photo:

www.flickr.com...
WOMAN WEAVING IN TJAMING, SOUTH SULAWESI, INDONESIA
On the wall to the woman's right, is a swastika.

www.ushmm.org...
HISTORY OF THE SWASTIKA
"The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “good fortune” or “well-being." ... To this day it is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Odinism. It is a common sight on temples or houses in India or Indonesia."

www.hotels.com...
SWASTIKA BUNGALOWS IN BALI
"Located in Denpasar (Sanur), Swastika Bungalows is close to Honorary Consulate of Germany, Sanur Beach, and Honorary Consulate of Hungary. Also nearby are Pura Segara Temple and Honorary Consulate of Sweden and Finland."

www.salon.com...
NAZI THEMED CAFE OPENS IN BANDUNG

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www.onlinenewspapers.com...
ONLINE NEWSPAPERS FROM INDONESIA
Couple newspapers from Java, for you future travelers.

www.eastjava.com...
MYSTERIES OF EAST JAVA
Six different mountain ranges, half a dozen major rivers, volcanos and crater lakes

www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net...
ULTRA LOW FREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNET ANOMALIES ASSOCIATED WITH LARGE EARTHQUAKES ON JAVA ISLAND, INDONESIA
(Conclusion): "Based on the empirical relationship between magnitude and detectable distance, the largest EQ (earthquakes) could be preceded by ULF geomagnetic anomalies. By using the spectral density ratio analysis and DFA, the results show the simultaneous anomalous changes a few weeks before the largest EQ. The simultaneous use of
spectral density ratio analysis and DFA is found to be effective and useful for a single station analysis to detect ULF
geomagnetic anomalies associated with EQs."

(NOTE: Magnetic anomalies have been associated with dimensional doorways or vortices.)

www.newdawnmagazine.com...

MANKIND'S "CRADLE OF CIVILISATION" FOUND IN JAVA
"At Mount Padang, hardy visitors need about twenty minutes to climb some 370 stone steps, rising at almost a forty-degree angle, ninety-five metres to the summit, which is crowned with the largest megalithic site in southeastern Asia. It encompasses more than twenty-five hectares, including nine hundred square metres of five, rectangular, stone courtyards ascending northwest to southeast, precisely laid out on a series of landscaped terraces, and neatly organised into low walls, inner partitions, and outward gateways, all of them connected by flights of stairs.

"Within and without the enclosures are dozens of standing monoliths, but many more lie scattered about. The entire complex comprises an estimated 3,703,700 black, andesite blocks ranging from one to two metres in length, and formed by geological processes into polygonal structures of five-, six- or eight-sided columns. (Andesite is an extrusive, igneous rock, a type of basalt formed by volcanic action.) Average dimensions for the columns are 0.3-by-0.3-by-1.5 metres.

"These smooth-sided blocks weigh from ninety to six hundred kilograms, with an average, individual weight of about three hundred kilograms. In other words, the site’s prehistoric workers transported approximately 1,111,110,000 kilograms (1,224,790 short tons) of building materials 885 metres above sea level, up the precipitous slopes of Mount Padang. Added to their burden was a non-local source for their andesite, which had to be brought in from some distant quarry unknown to academic scholars.

"Archaeologists were further surprised to find traces of a kind of adhesive, glue or perhaps cement that bound some of the top courses of the walls. Beneath, investigators were perplexed by the presence of several layers of sand that had been deliberately incorporated into the original stonework by the prehistoric engineers, perhaps allowing the blocks to move and slide against each other with the motion of seismic disturbances, instead of rigidly resisting such geologic upheavals and breaking under tension. Here was possible evidence for ancient earthquake-proof construction.

"Contributing to the stones’ high strangeness, most of them possess an unusual quality that may have additionally warranted their distant importation by the ancient builders to the top of Mount Padang. Most of its andesite blocks and columns resonate with a bell-like tone when struck with another hard object.

"They belong to a rare, geological occurrence known as lithophony, the property of some rocks to emit musical sounds under percussive stress. Although only slightly more than one dozen lithophonic boulder fields have been identified in the world, most are found on private property, or have been obliterated by urban development.

"During laboratory testing of several lithophonic rocks in 1965, Pennsylvania geologist Richard Faas found that they created a series of tones at frequencies lower than the range of human hearing, and only became audible when they interacted with each other. Although lithophonic rocks sound metallic, their somewhat higher iron content is not responsible for such music, but rather a combination of the density of the stone and high degree of internal stress.

www.mind-energy.net...
NEW VIDEO OF JOHN CHANG - MAGUS OF JAVA
"In August 2006 I wrote about an amazing video in the post Amazing video of the power of chi. This video is an excerpt from a documentary movie called “Ring of Fire”, shot in Indonesia. During the filming, one of the crew members got some problem with his eyes and was treated by a local healer using acupuncture, but different than regularly used.

"Then, the healer demonstrated his powers on the crew by “shocking” them with what felt like electrical charges from his hands or abdomen. The most shocking part of the footage is where he puts a newspaper on fire, allegedly only using his Chi energy.

"I’ve taken some time to look up this man and it seems he’s become quite famous since his brief and chance appearance in the “Ring of Fire” documentary. His name is John Chang (or John DiJang) and he is a direct heir to an ancient lineage of sages called the Mo-Pai. "

www.amazon.com...
THE MAGUS OF JAVA: TEACHINGS OF AN AUTHENTIC TAOIST IMMORTAL

www.sunda.org...

NO CREATION MYTHS FOR JAVA'S SUDANESE PEOPLE
"Unlike many people groups, there are no creation myths or records of other myths describing the origins of the Sundanese. No one knows where they came from nor how they settled West Java.

"Their beliefs formed the foundation of what is now called the original Sundanese religion. Although it is impossible to know for sure what these beliefs were, the best indications are found in the oldest epic poems (Wawacan) and among the remote Badui tribe. The Badui call their religion Sunda Wiwitan [earliest Sundanese]. Not only are the Badui almost totally free of Islamic elements (except those imposed over the past 20 years), they also display very few Hindu characteristics.

"Based on a system of taboos, the Badui religion is animistic. They believe spirits inhabit the rocks, trees, streams and other inanimate objects. These spirits do good or evil depending on one’s observance of the taboos. Thousands of taboos apply to every aspect of daily life."

(NOTE: The Badui belief system matches other sub-populations whose Creation Myths speak of being transported to Earth, and taught how to live here in harmony with the land, like the SW Pueblo Indians in the U.S. Those ideas taught them by their ET benefactors are that everything is "alive", even if apparently inanimate, like rocks. And that to live in harmony with the environment is ideal. To a people too primitive to understand science, their ET benefactors just gave them a list of Don'ts, or taboos, to help them live fulfilling lives in harmony with the land.)

This is kind of like reading a textbook... can someone post pics please and just put brief descriptions.....

a reply to: 3u40r15m

"This is kind of like reading a textbook... can someone post pics please and just put brief descriptions....."

No. Java has a fascinating and suppressed history, and I cannot do justice to the topic with just a photo and a blurb. If all you want is photos and a brief description, check the tourist sites. Here is one such site, I posted in my OP.

www.pbase.com...
PHOTOS OF SUKOH TEMPLE
Photos in the third row are interesting, including a winged diety, and a bug-eyed demon with a club. (Click the photo to see an enlargement.)

Also a "rough" carving of what looks like a ram-headed warrior raising another man off the ground with a rope. (Note a separate smaller rope tied to the warrior's waist and also curved upward. Did they have a form of anti-gravity?) And note the smaller/shorter warrior behind him, with shield and helmet.

EDIT/NOTE: I just noticed a small lizard on the face of the "enemy" being raised into the air by the warrior.

a reply to: MKMoniker

Thanks I was just hoping for photos on the thread so I don't have to click links then click a photo then zoom etc etc... but interesting read non the less

More "mysteries" from Java:

archive.archaeology.org...
CASE OF THE CURIOUS CRANIUM FROM JAVA
(1999) "Scholars have remarked on the unusualness of the cranium, citing a mix of H. erectus traits, such as a thick cranial bone and a pronounced browridge, and features commonly observed in more recent humans, such as a high forehead, and rounded braincase.

"Columbia University paleoneurologist Ralph Holloway, who, along with his graduate student, Doug Broadfield, is analyzing an endocast, a mold taken from the inside of the cranium, has also noted that, despite the individual's small cranial capacity, ca. 900cc compared to the 1200cc of archaic H. sapiens, the layout of the brain, etched in the interior of the fossil, has SOME STRIKINGLY MODERN CHARACTERISTICS.

"These include an asymetrical development of the left and right hemispheres of the brain and evidence of a so-called Broca's Cap, or bump on the left side which indicates the possibility of speech."

www.archaeology.org...
(April 2013) NEW STUDY SUPPORTS "HOBBITS" AS A SEPARATE SPECIES

(NOTE: Study of both these ancient species leaves the door open to ET DNA intermingling. The cranium cap, which contains evolutionary elements both old and new, could have been a viable hybrid, half Javanese and half ET. And proving that the Hobbits were not just dwarves but a separate species, may point to a small colonizing ET humanoid species. Many of which chose to live on islands, like the Celts' Druid priests in the ancient UK.)

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www.thejakartapost.com...
(Oct. 2014) FOSSILIZED MAIZE AND RICE FOUND IN CENTRAL JAVA
"Liyangan archaeological site on the slope of Mount Sindoro in Temanggung regency, Central Java, has again proven its position as home to one of main archeological findings in Indonesia after archeologists from the Yogyakarta Archeology Agency found the fossilized remnants of staple foods, comprising maize and rice, still inside a bamboo basket at the site.

"The archeologists said the finding indicated that Indonesia had long been part of an international agriculture network because maize was not endemic to Java, and at the site they had also found many artifacts from other countries, especially China."

(NOTE: Very unusual to find ancient rice and maize (early corn) in the same archeological dig. Maize is native to South America, and might give credence to the theory that one of Java's big pyramids is Mayan.)

thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com...
(Nov. 2013) TOP OF TEMPLE SPOTTED IN JAVA
"Archaeologists from the Yogyakarta Heritage Conservation Agency think that there could be a temple buried in a heavily developed area of Sleman, Yogyakarta. They have found 19 blocks, a rooftop ornament, and a makara, a mythological Hindu creature often portrayed on temple entrances. They have also found gold and silver objects, and cauldrons and other artifacts usually associated with temples."

www.tripadvisor.com...
PHOTO OF A "MAKARA" STATUE
A Hindu sea god, this is an interesting photo. The smaller creature emerging from the SeaDragon Makara's mouth is reminiscent of Mayan ruins in Central America - and even Europe.

en.wikipedia.org...
MAYAN "KUKULKAN"
Several Mayan instances pictured, where a warrior is emerging from Kukulkan's mouth.

www.redicecreations.com...
BISCIONE: ITALIAN SERPENT SYMBOL STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO QUETZALCOATL IN MAYAN MYTHOLOGY
Coat of Arms of the Visconti of Milan, shows a serpent/dragon giving birth to man.

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www.thejakartapost.com...
(2002) OLD TEMPLE SITE FOUND IN BANDUNG
" Agency head Tony Djubiantono said the site was discovered last Sunday by 12 residents of Bojongmenje hamlet, Cangkuang Rancaekek village, about 25 kilometers southeast of Bandung. The site is believed to date back to the seventh century, and is expected to help experts fill in the holes of the history of the Sunda territory (Tatar Sunda), he said.

"It is a spectacular discovery and is very significant for recovering the missing history of the Tatar Sunda. It's extremely rare to find such a temple in West Java," he said.

"Tony said historians had so far failed to find a connection between the Jiwa Temple in Batujajar, Karawang regency, which dates back to between the second and forth centuries, and a temple in the Dieng Mountains from the seventh to eighth centuries."

(NOTE: Very curious that there are so many unrelated temples in Java! It could suggest sequential occupations of different foreigners and/or ETs. Why was ancient Java that popular? Or was it close to a vortex opening thru Space/Time, as its electro-magnetic anomalies suggest?)

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www.richardcassaro.com...
COMPARISON OF MAYAN AND BALINESE STATUES - TWIN ANCIENT CULTURES ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE PACIFIC
"These are 12 major parallels still visible in the ruins of the ancient Balinese and ancient Mayan cultures—twin civilizations that developed on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean who scholars say were never in contact and who scholars believe developed independently of each other. The parallels shared here point to a far different story than scholars tell. The evidence indicates a much deeper relationship shared by the ancient Balinese and ancient Mayans."

(NOTE: Bali is the island to the west of Java. And, as side-by-side islands, any cultural revolution on one would have been shared with the other.)

a reply to: MKMoniker

Image of the line:



Because, surerly, ET intervention is needed for an animal to draw a wavy line.

On a seashell.

Why were the ancients of Java so drawn to green adornment items?

www.unexplained-mysteries.com...
MYSTERIOUS GREEN MASKS MADE FROM UNKNOWN ALLOY
Controversial, "the masks were purpotedly found in an underground temple in Java and dated to 3,000 BC based on thermoluminescence carried on pottery shards found at the same underground location.

"What is striking, is that the masks show VERY ODD FEATURES unlike any other in the Far East, and are made of some unknown metal alloy. At the time the report was first written, nobody was able to identify the nature of the metal alloy used."

www.world-archaeology.com...
JAVA'S GUA MADE GREEN MASKS
Just an abstract, but nice photo of one of these strange masks - with large slanted eyes and a straight mouth.

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www.thejakartapost.com...
STONE-AGE JASPER RINGS UNEARTHED AT PREHISTORIC PURBVALINGGA SITES
"We found stone relics made from green jaspers in the form of rings," team leader Sudjatmiko said Saturday. "We believe the stones are from the Neolithic period, or the new stone age."

"He added the stones, which were prehistoric man-made pieces, had been found near a waterfall and in rice paddies in the village. Based on these findings, Sudjatmiko went on, the team concluded that humans at that time began creating aesthetic items, in addition to other items they made that served specific functions."

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www.questia.com...
OBSIDIAN SOURCING IN BANDUNG, INDONESIA