Interpretasi Terkini Data Arkeologi di Kompleks Percandian Pengkalan Bujang, Kedah

Archaeological research at Pengkalan Bujang, Kedah was earlier conducted systematically by Quaritch-Wales in 1936 to 1937 under the sponsorship of the Greater India Research Committee based in Calcutta, India. The sites that have been excavated by Quaritch-Wales are Site 18, Site 19, Site 21, Site 22 and Site 23. Several important findings were successfully discovered during the excavations conducted by Quaritch-Wales and these are religious sculptures, ceramic shards, reliquary and various other artefacts. Alastair Lamb also conducted his research in Pengkalan Bujang where he mainly focused on the discovery of various types of glass and beads. One of his opinions is that a lot of glass which was found in Pengkalan Bujang, Kedah had come from the Middle East and it is likely that the glass was reused to produce monochrome glass beads. Leong Sau Heng in 1973 completed her Master’s thesis titled “The distribution of ceramics in Pengkalan Bujang” and she reached the conclusion that the port in Pengkalan Bujang was only used up until the Sung Dynasty based on the ceramic findings obtained as a result of the excavation which she carried out. Excavation of Site 21 and Site 22 was conducted by the Department of Museums and Antiquities in 1974, led by Adi Taha, in order to expose the whole site which was earlier excavated by Quaritch- Wales. Excavation at Site 23 was conducted in 1986 and 1991, led by the Department of Museums and Antiquities and involved researchers from the Department of Museums and Antiquities and the National University of Malaysia. In 1990 and 1991, the excavation at Site 23 in Pengkalan Bujang also involved researchers from Centre National de la researche Scientifiqua, Paris, The École française d’Extrême- Orient (EFEO), Department of Museums and Antiquities and the National University of Malaysia. The final excavation was conducted at Site 23 in Pengkalan Bujang between 2004 and 2005 by the Department of Museums and Antiquities which exposed the whole structure, and the structure was left in situ.From 2006 to 2007, the National University of Malaysia conducted an excavation in an area between Site 22 and Site 23. The excavation took place because of the report from a geo-electric survey which suggested that there is probably a temple structure below the surface of the area. The excavation did not find any structure which was mentioned in the geo-electric survey; however, the excavation successfully uncovered a stone tool which showed evidence of socio-cultural evolution taking place in the society living in Pengkalan Bujang. Generally, archaeological and archaeometry data from Pengkalan Bujang have proven the existence of acculturation of the Indian culture and the transformation of knowledge of local communities who had lived around Pengkalan Bujang, Kedah