Prehistory. In political terms, Indonesia is the most southerly and largest portion of Island Southeast Asia. It is divided by the Huxley/Wallace Line into westerly Sundaland and easterly Wallacea, the former being settled by Homo erectus (especially Java man) by almost two million years ago. Later major developments in Indonesia include settlement across Huxley’S Line to reach Australia and New Guinea by 40,000 years ago (early Australoid populations), the development of small flake and blade industries in eastern Indonesia (and in Australia) after 4000 bc (see Leang Tuwo Mane’E, Toalian), the spread of Neolithic cultures correlated with Austronesian expansion after 3000 bc, and spreading bronze metallurgy in the 1st millennium BC. Classical. The history of Indonesia is difficult to summarize, as almost each of the 3000 islands in the archipelago has its own local history, which may be very different from that of its neighbour. It seems logical to assume that the western part of the archipelago would have experienced Indianization earlier and more thoroughly than the eastern part, but the earliest Sanskrit inscription and the earliest Buddha image, both dated to about ad 400, were found in Borneo and Celebes respectively. However, the first important Indianized states developed in Sumatra and Java from the 7th-8th centuries on, Java becoming more and more the focus of Indianized and, after the 14th century, Islamized See also Bali, Borneo, Celebes, Gili- MatarAm, Sailendra, Srîvuaya, Sulaw-esi, Sumatra, Sunda, Timor, Wallacea.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied