Investigate The History Of The Ancient Boat Punjulharjo Rembang

Rembang is known for its historical value and it has become a magnet for researchers. Like historical explore of a boat in Punjulharjo village, Rembang. There is the site of an ancient boat which is discovered to have come from the 7th to 8th centuries.

The boat was in a hall-like space surrounded by an iron fence. It is about 15 meters long.  On the sidelines of the iron fence, information about the initial discovery of this site has been posted. From the information written, the discovery departed around 2008 ago. While trying to dig the ground to build a pond, the villagers of Punjulharjo accidentally found the boat at a depth of two meters. It is about 500 meters from the beach.

The findings immediately gathered the attention of residents and researchers. 
Yogyakarta Archaeological Center then conducted research. They carried out an analysis of samples of boat fiber rope. The result shows that this boat dates from the 7-8th century AD.

In the finding information, it was written that in the Southeast Asian archipelago region, in the past, the tradition of making boats with a distinctive technology had developed, the technique using fiber rope ties and wooden pegs to form boats or better known as Sew plank and lushed plug technique.

The location later carried out sustainable conservation in stages from 2011 to 2018. At that time, the ancient boat wood was considered to have been submerged in the wetlands for a long time, causing wooden cell walls to be damaged and filled with water. If it dried normally it would cause the material to shrink and break in an extreme way. That's why an appropriate conservation action is needed.

In 2011, a soaking step was carried out with polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution. PEG solution reinforcing material that will replace the water contained in the wood cells. Thus, after the drying process, the wood doesn't shrink and is stronger. This is done gradually until the condition is considered strong enough.

In 2012 the pre-conservation stage began to be prepared. The conservation process itself is carried out by making a tidal barrier and a safety dike to prevent erosion around the boat.

Until 2017, immersion using a PEG 4000 solution with a concentration of 35 percent has reached 70 percent. Followed by a heating process at 60 degrees celsius temperature to strengthen the wooden structure of the boat.

In 2018 we have entered the final stage of the conservation process. The ancient boat was cleaned from the remains of the conservation materials used and dismantled the treatment bowl. The following year, the development of the pascaconvertation ancient boat site of Punjulharjo began.

Are you interested in visiting this cultural heritage site? The location is accessible, about 7 kilometers at the east of the Rembang town square, and north of the northern coastline. To be precise, it is only 500 meters from Punjulharjo beach.  (Vachri)