Artifacts as ancient archives digitizing the traces of Nusantara women's equality for contemporary democracy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61511/arc-jcc.v2i1.2025.3707Keywords:
bioarchaeology, digital humanities, gender equality, heterarchy, Indonesian historiographyAbstract
Background: The history of democracy in Indonesia is currently experiencing a sharp paradox where female political participation is formally recognized yet frequently marginalized in public policy and cultural representation. This issue has a significant impact on societal development because the dominant historical narrative implicitly perpetuates the perspective that women naturally occupy a subordinate and domestic role. This research aims to synthesize archaeological evidence from the prehistoric to the Hindu and Buddhist periods in Nusantara to reflect the social status of women and to formulate the urgency of digitizing artifacts as ancient archives. Methods: The study utilizes a qualitative systematic literature review mapping archaeological and historical data, with literature systematically sourced from the period 2015–2025 (supplemented by seminal earlier texts). The analytical approach operationalizes gender archaeology and interprets the findings through the theoretical framework of heterarchy and feminist archival critique. Findings: The results demonstrate a profound egalitarian legacy. Bioarchaeological analysis of the Gilimanuk site reveals that prehistoric women engaged in heavy labor alongside men. Furthermore material artifacts such as pottery and weaving tools highlight the economic autonomy of women. Textual evidence from the Guntur inscription and foreign chronicles alongside the iconography of the Majapahit era confirms that women held substantial authority in the public and political spheres. Conclusion: The research concludes that the rigid patriarchal system is a colonial era introduction rather than an indigenous heritage. Digitizing these archaeological artifacts into virtual archives serves as a critical political intervention to reclaim the egalitarian history of the archipelago. Novelty/Originality of this article: This study provides an original contribution by integrating archaeological material culture with archive theory and heterarchy to construct a concrete historical precedent advocating for contemporary gender equality policies in Indonesia.
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