REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PAGARALAM - The citizens of Curup village, North Dempo district, Pagaralam city, South Sumatra province, have found three statues of human heads, which are allegedly prehistoric relics from 4,000 BC.
The three heads were found on the banks of the Cawang river, while some other parts of the statues were found submerged in the river. One of the heads had bulging eyes, while the other was found buried in the ground. The statues seemed to have been originally standing right on the path of the river, in between two stone slabs, within the premises of what might have been a temple or a palace.
"Near the Selangis river estuary, we found three statues of prehistoric relics, neither too large nor too small, arranged neatly on a stone wall," said Burlian, a local resident.
He said some people discovered the statues while they were on their way to wash their hands after a day's work at the coffee plantation in the vicinity of Selangis river. "All the three statues are still attached to the stone wall, while some parts are lying on the bed of the river," Burlian explained.
"The statues are not in perfect shape and there are a lot of scratches around the eyes," he pointed out. "The statues are estimated to have a diameter of 60-70 cm and they are about three feet in height," Burlian noted.
"From the shape and arrangement of the stratified stones, it seems the river might have a lot of megaliths stored within it," he said. "However, excavation and site clearance activities around the recently discovered site are required to find more of them," Burlian continued.
He noted that a part of a statue submerged in the Selangis river could be seen when the water was clear. "Around the Cawang and Curup villages, many prehistoric relics in the form of megaliths and statues can be found, including those from the times of Sriwijaya," Burlian stated.
He noted that the local people in the area were not aware of the historical value of the stone statues but "were curious because the statues were similar to the ones that were generally seen at the gateways of kingdoms". Meanwhile, an archeologist from Balar Palembang, Kristantina Indiasturi, said many stonmegaliths had been found in the Pagaralam area.
"If you look at the shape of the newly discovered statues in Curup village, they seem to be prehistoric relics that are more than 3,000 to 4,000 years old," she pointed out.
"But we need to conduct research to find out the exact age of these relics," Kristantina noted. "We will also try to find out where exactly are they from," she added.
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