Tranqueira
Tranqueira ( German cover, entrenchment ) is the Portuguese name for fortified settlements that were built by the local population on Timor . They are the only large historical complexes created by the people of Timor.
Overview
Most of the Tranqueiras were built between 1150 and 1650 AD, most of them were built between 1450 and 1650. Similar structures from the period between 1300 and 1700 AD are also known from other parts of the Malay Archipelago and Oceania . During this time the El Niño was very effective , which often resulted in droughts in Timor. It is believed that this resulted in famine and conflict between the island's tribes. In any case, in the time before the Portuguese colonial administration was implemented at the beginning of the 20th century (see Rebellions in Portuguese Timor (1860–1912) ), head and slave hunts were common between the small rich . The tranqueiras were built on top of hills, which shows the defensive character of the facilities. The walls of stacked limestone can be one and a half to four meters high and one to three meters thick at the base. The fortifications enclosed areas of 500 to 3000 square meters. Inside there are still platforms and small stone walls. The outer walls usually have an opening or passage. Sometimes walls towards the entrance form a winding corridor. It is possible that the idea and the knowledge for the construction of such plants were taken over from Chinese , Muslim and, most recently, Portuguese traders who visited the island.
The Tranqueiras among the Fataluku
On the eastern tip of Timor, in the settlement area of the Fataluku, there are hundreds of ramparts of fortifications on hills and on the edge of cliffs. In the local language, Fataluku , they are called lata irinu . These “old villages” are sacred places for the Fataluku, which are associated with the history of the respective clans (ratu) . In many of them there are sacred landmarks made of wood or stone, called sikua or saka by the Fataluku , and together with the platforms known as “tombs” (chaluluturu) are still the center of cultural rites today. Accordingly, access for outsiders is only possible with local permission. According to the Fataluku, the lower walls inside the Tranqueiras sometimes mark places of ceremonies (sepu) . Between 2003 and 2004, field studies were carried out in the facilities around Tutuala , mostly overgrown by vegetation , which dated these facilities to the late Holocene using the radiocarbon method and thermoluminescence . According to oral tradition, some plants were still inhabited in the 1940s. The region is the last East Timor where the Portuguese enforced their colonial administration in the 1920s. Other tranqueiras were abandoned far sooner as people moved from one place to another. A migration from the coast to higher places in the interior of the island can be traced. The age regulations partly confirm the information provided by the locals. Most of the fortifications in the region were built between 1100 and 1700 AD, i.e. in the same period as in many regions between Okinawa and New Zealand , when the effects of the El Niño were particularly noticeable.
supporting documents
literature
- Peter V. Lape: Chronology of Fortified Settlements in East Timor (PDF; 2.2 MB), Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA, Journal of Island & Coastal Archeology
, 1: 285-297, 2006.