Bark-cloth and bark-cloth beater from the Indonesian Archipelago

Archaeological remains of bark-cloths in the Indonesian Archipelago are few and leaving us only bark-cloth beaters. On the other hand, remains of bark-cloth can still be found in association with bark-cloth beaters in China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia. Nevertheless, a number of villages in Indonesia are still producing bark-cloth; hence the inventory and documentation of such ethnographic data can still be carried out. Many museums in Europe collect ornamented barkcloths. Today, the productions of bark-cloths in the Indonesian Archipelago are intended as souvenirs,for instance, wall ornament. Apparently, the existence of bark-cloths in the past is closely related to the identity of a society. Thus, this article discusses the remains of bark-cloth beaters found in Indonesia in comparison to that of in other Asian countries and their ethnographic data. Information on bark-cloth beaters were collected from publications and archaeological research reports of Balai Arkeologi Banjarmasin (Centre for Archaeology, Banjarmasin). The outcome of the discussion was intended to motivate further comprehensive research on bark-cloth beaters.