Archaeologists Dig Deep to Establish Palembang's Imperial Past  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A team of archaeologists from the Palembang Archaeology Agency are trying to prove that Palembang had indeed served as the epicentre of the Sriwijaya Empire by digging deeper into three main archaeological sites in Palembang, namely Bukit Siguntang, Gedingsuro, as well as the main courtyard at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Museum—all of which are located downstream of Palembang. 

"We are trying to prove that Palembang was indeed the capital of the Sriwijaya Kingdom," said archaeologist Retno Purwanti on Sunday, November 23, 2014. She explained that the ongoing dig, which began on Thursday last week, is scheduled to run until December 1. She added her team was optimistic of their chances of finding new evidence that could corroborate their previous findings. 

According to Retno, the current research builds on previous researches into the status of Palembang as Sriwijaya Kingdom's capital. Last month, archaeologist found an ancient structure buried in Bukit Siguntang, which possibly is an evidence of Palembang's imperial status. The brick structure is suspected to be a part of a Buddhist temple or shrine, according to the team of archaeologist involved in the discovery. 

Other cities in Sumatra have claimed to be the real capital of the Sriwijaya Empire, including Jambi, Lampung, and Riau, according to Retno. Some of these claims are not entire baseless, since a number of claims were made after multiple archaeological findings were discovered, which included temples and remnants of human dwellings and other human-made structures. 

The Governor of South Sumatra, Alex Noerdin, has came out to support Palembang's claim as the true center of the Sriwijaya Kingdom. "Sriwijaya's influence was widespread, and its reach extended across Asia, even as far off as Madagascar," said Alex, referring to Sriwijaya's zenith in history as a major maritime power. 

PARLIZA HENDRAWAN