Archaeology Students Participate in 2025 Indonesian Archaeology Field School Program in Lombok Island

• By Admin
• Minggu, 3 Agustus 2025

Four Udayana University students from archaeology study program, Alessandro Austin Arya Krishna, Lufita Dwiyanti, Kavita Diyazinta Dewi, and I Gusti Putu Alit Putra Mahendra joined the Indonesian Archaeology Field school in Praya, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. The field school was held from June 30 to July 19, 2025. The field school also consists of students and lecturers from Gadjah Mada University, Australian National University including an expert from BRIN.

The Indonesian Archaeology Field school was organized by the Australian National University and Gadjah Mada University with Udayana University invited to join the fieldschool due to the Udayana University closeness to the Island of Lombok. The Indonesian Archaeology Field school is also supported by several organizations such as (National Research and Innovation Agency) BRIN, National Geographic and New Colombo Plan. 

The first week of the field school started at Gadjah Mada University, Jogjakarta in their archaeology department. During the first week of the field school, students of Gadjah Mada University, Australian National University and Udayana University attended workshops about the history of Indonesian archaeology, pottery, lithics, invertebrates and vertebrates of animals, excavation methods including excavation recording and report writing. These workshops were led by lecturers from Gadjah Mada University and Australian National University The first week of this field school also includes excursions to Sambisari Temple, Plaosan Temple, Tinjon site and last but not least, the Sangiran museum. 

The students of Udayana University and Australian National University arrived in Lombok on July 6 meanwhile, the students of Gadjah Mada University arrived in Lombok on July 7. The site for excavation is called Bangkang Cave. The cave is located in Praya, Central Lombok. The activities in the site includes excavation, dry sieving, operating total station, wet sieving, and sorting. The excavation itself focuses on the prehistoric context of Lombok island with Austronesian culture as the backbone of prehistoric humans in Lombok. 

Since the Gadjah Mada University, Australian National University and Udayana University students were divided into groups, the four Udayana University archaeology students had the chance to try every activity in the site. Each and every one of the Udayana University students went excavating, operating a total station, dry sieving, wet sieving, and sorting. In Lombok there was also an excursions activities to the Ende traditional Lombok village, traditional pottery maker and a woven fabric village called Sukarara Village. 

The four of them learned a lot from this field school and excavation with an amazing experience to meet new people and make new friends. The field school was a great opportunity for archaeology students to gain field experience especially for the students that are interested in prehistoric archaeology. The students hoped this field school can be available again so that other students can enjoy the experience of this field school.