DOI Artikel:
Steensberg, Axel: Observations on tools of husbandry in western Java
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0090
84
AX. STEENSBERG
gions, are too porous to be suitable for
irrigation and unfitted for paddy-rice culti-
vation.
One of the most fertile and densely popu-
lated regions of western Java is the sur-
roundings of Bandung, 22 km north of
which is a still active volcano, Tangkuban-
prahu, rising to 2076 m above sea level. In
November 1975 I stayed in a small suburban
settlement on the road to this volcano, 11
km north of Bandung and 5 km south of the
smaller community of Lampang. My hosts,
Dr. Ian Glover of the Institute of Archaeol-
ogy in London, and his wife, Dr. Emily
Glover, speak the local Sundanese language
as well as the official Indonese, and with
their invaluable assistance I was able to study
the tools of husbandry in the region. In the
middle of November we spent a few days in
the guest house at the Botanical Garden of
Bogor, as a base for further studies in this
area. The study was carried out because
documentation of the construction and use
of traditional tools of husbandry in Java
seems to be scarce in printed records.
Paddy-Fields and Digging Sticks
The cultivation of paddy rice is long-estab-
lished in Java. It was presumably introduced
from mainland South-East Asia more than
3000 years ago. The exploitation of cultigens
such as sugar cane and soya beans as well as
tubers like yam and taro are probably much
older. To-day the cultivated land is divided
into sawah, irrigated land, tegalan, areas
without irrigation, and pekarangan or mixed
garden land. The present paper is concerned
with -agriculture (Peltzer 1-23; Pelt-
zer 118-154).
Although the techniques of agriculture in
Java are sophisticated and require a high
degree of skill and practical training, the
utilisation of modern machinery is minimal.
Mechanised equipment could well be profit-
Fig. 2. The smallest paddy-fields contain only 40-
60 rice plants. The mountains near Bandung,
Java.
Die kleinsten Reisfelder enthalten nur 40-60 Reis-
pflanzen. Bergland in der Nahe von Bandung,
Java.
able on the lowland plains, but rapid
mechanization would probably cause a so-
cial disaster, producing millions of unem-
ployed labourers, and mountain slope cul-
tivators would hardly be able to compete
with their hand tools on diminutive plots if
rationalization of food production led to an
urbanising and industrialisation of the
country.
The smallest paddy-fields in the moun-
tains contain only 40-60 rice plants, and
cover about 6 square metres (fig. 2). They
cannot be tilled with a plough; they require
the hard work of men using a hand-hoe. In
AX. STEENSBERG
gions, are too porous to be suitable for
irrigation and unfitted for paddy-rice culti-
vation.
One of the most fertile and densely popu-
lated regions of western Java is the sur-
roundings of Bandung, 22 km north of
which is a still active volcano, Tangkuban-
prahu, rising to 2076 m above sea level. In
November 1975 I stayed in a small suburban
settlement on the road to this volcano, 11
km north of Bandung and 5 km south of the
smaller community of Lampang. My hosts,
Dr. Ian Glover of the Institute of Archaeol-
ogy in London, and his wife, Dr. Emily
Glover, speak the local Sundanese language
as well as the official Indonese, and with
their invaluable assistance I was able to study
the tools of husbandry in the region. In the
middle of November we spent a few days in
the guest house at the Botanical Garden of
Bogor, as a base for further studies in this
area. The study was carried out because
documentation of the construction and use
of traditional tools of husbandry in Java
seems to be scarce in printed records.
Paddy-Fields and Digging Sticks
The cultivation of paddy rice is long-estab-
lished in Java. It was presumably introduced
from mainland South-East Asia more than
3000 years ago. The exploitation of cultigens
such as sugar cane and soya beans as well as
tubers like yam and taro are probably much
older. To-day the cultivated land is divided
into sawah, irrigated land, tegalan, areas
without irrigation, and pekarangan or mixed
garden land. The present paper is concerned
with -agriculture (Peltzer 1-23; Pelt-
zer 118-154).
Although the techniques of agriculture in
Java are sophisticated and require a high
degree of skill and practical training, the
utilisation of modern machinery is minimal.
Mechanised equipment could well be profit-
Fig. 2. The smallest paddy-fields contain only 40-
60 rice plants. The mountains near Bandung,
Java.
Die kleinsten Reisfelder enthalten nur 40-60 Reis-
pflanzen. Bergland in der Nahe von Bandung,
Java.
able on the lowland plains, but rapid
mechanization would probably cause a so-
cial disaster, producing millions of unem-
ployed labourers, and mountain slope cul-
tivators would hardly be able to compete
with their hand tools on diminutive plots if
rationalization of food production led to an
urbanising and industrialisation of the
country.
The smallest paddy-fields in the moun-
tains contain only 40-60 rice plants, and
cover about 6 square metres (fig. 2). They
cannot be tilled with a plough; they require
the hard work of men using a hand-hoe. In