Section B - Contextual Variables
Chapter 3
Regional and Village Level Context
The islands of central Maluku came into being over a million years ago. The oldest of the
islands in geological terms is Seram, called Nusa Ina, or the Mother Island. The Lease Islands
are rich in biodiversity. Mangroves, coral reefs, and vast sea grass beds support an array of
marine biota including dugongs and turtles (Hualopu 1996). The productive base on the islands
is limited by geomorphologic factors (steep slopes) and most settlements and farming activities
are concentrated along the strip of relatively flat coastal land. The communities have easy
access to marine resources, and fisheries contribute significantly to the village economy
(Hualopu 1996). Fisheries resources are exploited throughout the islands, but exploitation
may be regulated through sasi, a traditional resource management system.
3.1 Socio-Political History of Central Maluku
The first trace of human occupation dates back to the Holocene period (4,000-10,000 years ago).
Cave dwellers from this time were of mixed Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Papuan ancestry. Villages
organized under the local government are believed to have formed in the Neolithic Age (1,500-
3,000 years ago). From this period, anthropologists have determined that canoes, gardening
tools and simple stone axes were in use. Evidence of the building of a Baileo, the traditional
community house, familiar in adat culture, dates back to the first century A.D. (Figure 3.1) (also
see Cooley 1962). At this time there was already trade between central Maluku and China and
other areas of Southeast Asia. The local religion was animist (Holleman 1923).
Figure 3.1. (Photo) Baileo in Nolloth.
The political structure of central Maluku over the period of 1000-1500 A.D. has been
characterized as “patrician republican” with an aristocratic ruling class. The original
Regional and Village Level Context 27
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