Page 68 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

Right: A map of the distribution of
the peoples who speak languages
in the Austronesian language
family. These languages are found
from Madagascar to Easter Island.

The different sub-regions of
Austronesian are based on
research in historical linguistics
and represent sub-branches of the
language family.

Patterns of Dispersal in the Indonesian Archipelago
The arrival of Mongolic settlers in the Indonesian Archipelago resulted in the disappearance
of Austro-Melanesian dwellers, the ancestors of present day Melanesian population in
Western Indonesia. Possibly around 4,000 years ago, the archaeological sites containing
the remains of human beings and their Pre-Neolithic legacy disappeared. An explanation
for this is needed. We know that in some communities, the two races intermarried as
supported by the discovery of human bones whose characteristics were of a mixed type
between Mongolic and Austro-Melanesian settlers. The findings at the Anyer archeological
site, caves in East Java, Gilimanuk, and Sumba (Simanjuntak, 2008) provided support for
the occurrence of interracial marriage in certain groups since proto-historic times. We
could conclude that, these two races had coexisted in harmony since the proto-historic
times (Heekeren, 1972, Soejono, 1984). But, we still need to explain why there wasn’t any
record of their coexistence before the pre-historic period? A tentative answer could be
either because research has not revealed it yet; or because the population of Melanesia
had completely absorbed the cultures of Neolithic Austroasiatic and Austronesian people
so that the artifacts found were likely to exemplify the Neolithic culture.
Certainly, according to present day demographic mapping, the Melanesian population
retreated to the eastern part of Indonesia, while the Austronesian speaking Mongolic
population came to occupy the western part while also tending to spread to the east. This
showed that the arrival of Mongolic settlers had forced the Austromelanesoid dwellers
gradually into the eastern part of Indonesia, while the western part was gradually occupied
completely by the Mongolic population. This happened also in mainland South East Asia,

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MELANESIA BOOK FA LAYOUT 051216.indd 68 2/10/17 2:10 PM