Natural background
The main area of land formed from the two ends of the archipelago supercontinent Pangaea in the Mesozoic Era (250 million years ago), but part of different continental plates. This two-part move closer due to the movement of plates, so that when the last Ice Age have been formed by large strait between Sundaland in the west and the Sahul Shelf in the east. The island of Sulawesi and nearby islands to fill the space between two opposing parts of the continent. Between these Islands by biologists now known as Wallacea, a region which has a unique fauna distribution. Geology and geography of this situation has implications for aspects of topography, climate, soil fertility, the distribution of living things (especially plants and animals), and human migration in the region.
Section meeting of the Eurasian Plate to the west, the Indo-Australian Plate to the south, and the Pacific Plate to the northeast became an active volcanic area that gives the mineral wealth of the land around it so it is very good for agriculture, but also prone to earthquakes. Continental plates meeting also raised some of the sea floor to the top resulted in the formation of a rich caves karst hills in some places. Fossils of marine animals found in this area.
Archipelago is located in the tropics, which means the sea is warm and gets sun shines continuously throughout the year with high intensity. This situation has encouraged the formation of a rich ecosystem diversity of living things, both plants and animals. Warm sea and becomes the meeting point of two great oceans. Strait between the two parts of the continent (Wallacea) is part of the ocean currents from the Indian Ocean into the Pacific Ocean is rich in marine resources. Coral reefs in this region is a place with very high biodiversity. Natural wealth on land and sea coloring initial culture of the community dwellers. Many of the indigenous people who rely on the wealth of marine life and make them understand the basic shipping navigation, and will assist in the residential area of the Pacific (Oceania).
Australian continent and the Indian and Pacific Ocean waters on the other hand gives the annual climate variation factor is important. Archipelago was influenced by the monsoon system with the result that many places are experiencing differences in water availability in a year. Most of the region recognize the dry season and rainy season. For sailors known as the west wind (occurring in the rainy season) and an east wind. Inter-island trade in the era that relies on the ship sailing, wind patterns are very important in scheduling trade.
From the point of distribution of living things, this area is the meeting point of two provinces of flora and fauna of different types, as a result of evolutionary processes that run separately, but later met. Part of the Sunda Shelf region, which is always not far from the equator, has a type of Eurasian fauna, while the Sahul Shelf area in the eastern part has a type of Australian fauna. Wallacea region forming a "bridge" for the mixing of these two types, but somewhat isolated because he has a unique type. This is realized by a number of scholars from the 19th century, such as Alfred Wallace, Max Wilhelm Carl Weber, and Richard Lydecker. In contrast to the fauna, flora distribution (plants) in this area is more mixed, even forming a unique provincial flora, different from the type in India and East Asia as well as dry areas of Australia, called by botaniwan as Malesia. Human migration and encourage the spread of flora in this area further and also the introduction of foreign plants and animals from the mainland of Eurasia, the Americas and Africa in the period of history.
Prehistory
Homo erectus fossils found in some footprint in Java indicates possible continuity of population from 1.7 million years (Sangiran) up to 50,000 years ago (Homo). Long span of time shows feature changes that result in two different subspecies (H. erectus paleojavanicus older than H. erectus soloensis). Swisher (1996) advanced the thesis that up to 50,000 years ago they have been a contemporary of modern humans, H. sapiens. [1]
H. Migration sapiens (modern humans) went into the archipelago is estimated to occur at some time between 160 000 and 100,000 to years ago. Community Austrolomelanesoid physical characteristics, which later became the ancestor of several indigenous tribes in the Malay Peninsula (Semang), Philippines (Negrito), Aboriginal Australia, Papua and Melanesia, entered the Sunda Shelf region. They then move to the east. Niah Caves in Sarawak has the oldest skeletal remains representing this community (aged about 60 to 50 thousand years). The remains of skulls were also found in the caves of the karst area in Java (Sewu Mountains). They are supporters who do not yet know Paleolitikum culture cultivation or livestock breeding and live mix (hunt and gathering).
The discovery of a series of human-like creatures in the framework of Liang Bua, Flores Island, opening the possibility of a third hominid species, currently known as H. floresiensis.
Furthermore, approximately 2000 years BC, a massive migration into the islands of the Archipelago (immigration) is conducted by the Austronesian race from Yunan and they became ancestors of the tribes in the western part of the archipelago. They come in two waves of arrivals that is about the year 2500 BC and 1500 BC.
Nation's forefathers had civilization which has been good enough, they know how to farm better, pilotage and even astronomy. They also have a governance system is simple and has a leader (small kings). The arrival of immigrants from India in the late centuries BC to introduce their system of governance that are more advanced (the kingdom).
Period prehistory
Contact with the outside world is known from written records of China to the Greek people, which is very small. From there, note that there have been people who trade with them. The object of trade is primarily the result of forests or plantations, such as various spices, like pepper, sandalwood, sandalwood, nutmeg, incense, and gambier, and also gold and silver. Trade points have been growing, led by such rulers elected by citizens or inherited by generations. China's entry states that in the first centuries AD found that there are people are Buddhists, Hindus, and animists. Archaeological findings from several hundred years BC to the Hindu-Buddhist period, it indicates that the spread of Megalithic culture, along with Perundagian culture. Notes mentioning the Arab traders sailed up the east coast of east Africa. Ptolemy's map, the population of Alexandria, wrote Chersonesos Aurea ("Golden Peninsula") for the region which is probably the Malay Peninsula or Sumatra.
