Recovering a legend: The Wara Liang pottery assemblage and the origin story of Lamalera, Lembata, Indonesia

Abstract

Wara Liang is a shoreline rockshelter on Lembata island, Indonesia, where excavation in 2017 revealed a deep stratigraphy preserving evidence of forager habitation from ca. 1200 years ago. At around 600 BP, the nature of the occupation changes with a range of new zooarchaeological remains appearing, including domesticated animals as well as a substantial assemblage of earthenware pottery with some exotic tradeware. The deposition of the Wara Liang pottery at this time seemingly represents a strikingly late arrival of pottery technology at this site. Here we discuss the Wara Liang ceramics assemblage and consider a range of scenarios that may account for this apparent late technology transfer. The historical context of the time and the intensification of exogenous contact and influence in Nusa Tenggara Timor, along with the essential environmental nature of the region with its history of natural disasters and displacement of populations, are discussed in terms of effects on local communities. We also highlight the oral history and origin legend of Lamalera, a village close by the Wara Liang rockshelter and famous for its tradition of hunting whales. This origin legend intriguingly sheds light on the first use of pottery in the Wara Liang locale and provides information that credibly supplements the pottery record.