History – Libassonline.com|| Discovery of the Ancient Punjulharjo Boat Rembang or better known as the Ancient Rembang Boat which is Older than Borobudur Temple!! Rembang City on the North coast of Java Island holds a lot of history and many relics of the Chinatown village, in the Lasem area which is close to Rembang and many more discoveries of ancient artifacts. As a place on the North coast close to Lasem, it is likely that this city used to be a transit port for traders from outside the area before going to the kingdoms in Java in its quite old era and time. A village on the north coast of Java which has many salt ponds as a source of livelihood for residents suddenly became famous after the discovery of an ancient boat frame. The village is called Punjulharjo which is located in Rembang District, Rembang Regency, Central Java.
Reported by Punjulharjo-rembang.desa.id, Thursday, (06/11) initially this discovery was estimated to be from the Majapahit era, but after going through a carbon dating study, the results showed that the ship was from the 7th century AD, older than the Borobudur Temple which was only built around the 9th century AD. This proves that this country actually had great power and was quite respected in the past in building the nation’s civilization. That period was contemporaneous with the early development of ancient Mataram in Java and the early Srivijaya era in Sumatra. Inside the boat which was still intact and in complete condition, the head of a statue of a woman with a Chinese ethnic face made of stone, a broken wooden stick about 40 centimeters long, human bones, and a number of kitchen utensils were also found.
Meanwhile, according to the official site cagarbudaya.kemdikbud.go.id, it is not yet certain whether this boat was a trading ship between Java and Sumatra. However, based on the size and proportion of the boat, which is about 15 meters long and about 5 meters wide (so the proportion is 1:3), the possibility of being a trading boat is very possible, even for sailing long distances.
Now the site has been designated as a national cultural heritage through the Decree of Determination PM.57/PW.007/MKP/2010 on June 22, 2010 with the name of the Ancient Boat of Rembang.
