Timor Region Research Articles

INSTALLING THE ‘OUTSIDER’ INSIDE

This paper examines ten narratives of the ‘outsider’ who is received and installed inside, thus reordering precedence among an autochthonous population that has received him into their midst. Based on an opposition between the categories of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, these diverse narratives are drawn from across the Austronesian-speaking world from Sumatra through Timor to Fiji. They illustrate one, among several, distinctive Austronesian epistemologies of origin – one often relied upon to distinguish a ruler from those who are ruled. 1This is a revised and expanded version of a paper I initially delivered at the 1st Conference of the European Association for Southeast Asian Studies held at the University of Leiden from 29 June to 1 July 1995. Though the core of the paper has remained the same over the years, I have added further instances of the installation of the ‘outsider’ inside to extend its argument. Due to these various revisions, different versions of the paper have circulated and have been variously referenced. I have continued my efforts to explore this theme in another paper that focuses on the variety of forms of installing the ‘outsider’ inside that occur in the Timor region. Entitled ‘Precedence, Diarchy and Stranger Kings in the Timor Area’, it is, as work in progress, available on my website: http://rspas.anu.edu.au/people/personal/foxxj_rspas.php

Distribution and ecology of planktonic foraminifera from the seas around the Indonesian Archipelago

Planktonic foraminiferal assemblages in 50 core-top samples from the western and southern areas of the Indonesian Archipelago and 29 core tops retrieved northwest of Australia were grouped using cluster analysis. These assemblages make it possible to sub-divide the studied area in five provinces: 1/ the Banda/Java region (I); 2/ the Timor region (II); 3/ the Java upwelling region (III); 4/ the Indian monsoon Sumatra region (IV), and 5/ the NW Australia margin region (V). The foraminiferal assemblage groups reflect differences in sea-surface temperature, salinity, thermocline depth, and nutrient supply between these five provinces. These differences are related to surface circulation patterns. The carbonate dissolution is rather intense compared to that in other areas of the eastern Indian Ocean. Within the studied area, the strongest dissolution occurs in samples from the Java upwelling region, with the lysocline level rising above ∼2800 m. The increase in abundance of Globigerina bulloides at 10–8 ka BP in core SHI-9034 (the Java upwelling region) corresponds to the decrease in core SHI-9006 (the Banda/Java region) which indicates an intensification of upwelling in relation to a strengthened southeastern monsoon over the studied area.

The onset of India–Asia continental collision: Early, steep subduction required by the timing of UHP metamorphism in the western Himalaya

Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) rocks in the NW Himalaya are some of the youngest on Earth, and allow testing of critical questions of UHP formation and exhumation and the timing of the India–Asia collision. Initial collision of India with Asia is widely cited as being at 55 ± 1 Ma based on a paleomagnetically determined slowdown of India's plate velocity, and as being at ca. 51 Ma based on the termination of marine carbonate deposition. Even relatively small changes in this collision age force large changes in tectonic reconstructions because of the rapid India–Asia convergence rate of 134 mm/a at the time of collision. New U–Pb SHRIMP dating of zircon shows that Indian rocks of the Tso Morari Complex reached UHP depths at 53.3 ± 0.7 Ma. Given the high rate of Indian subduction, this dating implies that Indian continental crust arrived at the Asian trench no later than 57 ± 1 Ma, providing a metamorphic age for comparison with previous paleomagnetic and stratigraphic estimates. India's collision with Asia may be compared to modern processes in the Timor region in which initiation of collision precedes both the slowing of the convergence rate and the termination of marine carbonate deposition. The Indian UHP rocks must have traveled rapidly along a short, hence steep, path into the mantle. Early continental subduction was at a steep angle, probably vertical, comparable to modern continental subduction in the Hindu Kush, despite evidence for modern-day low-angle subduction of India beneath Tibet. Oceanic slab break-off likely coincided with exhumation of UHP terranes in the western Himalaya and led to the initiation of low-angle subduction and leucogranite generation.

The Laryngeal Gesture in Austronesian Languages: A Terminological Quibble

Hajek and Bowden (Oceanic Linguistics 41:222-224) report on the unusual ejective series in Waimoa, an Austronesian language of East Timor. I argue that, while phonetically odd, it is not a phonological oddity to find ejectives in an Austronesian language, especially not one in the Timor region. A possible historical pathway for the genesis of the ejectives is proposed, and some questions are raised about the acoustic nature of ejectives and about their phonological representation.

The Laryngeal Gesture in Austronesian Languages: A Terminological Quibble

Hajek and Bowden (Oceanic Linguistics 41:222-224) report on the unusual ejective series in Waimoa, an Austronesian language of East Timor. I argue that, while phonetically odd, it is not a phonological oddity to find ejectives in an Austronesian language, especially not one in the Timor region. A possible historical pathway for the genesis of the ejectives is proposed, and some questions are raised about the acoustic nature of ejectives and about their phonological representation.

Revolution, religion and magic; The PKI in West Timor, 1924-1966

The Indonesian Communist Party began as a socialist organization in Java in 1914 and after various permutations took on the name Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI) in 1924. Outside the Russian sphere, it was the first commu nist party in Asia. Most studies of the PKI stress its activities in Java, and to a lesser extent Bali and Sumatra, while the other islands have been largely ignored.1 An examination of the history of the PKI in the Timor region, how ever, reveals that the party was adept at adapting to local conditions. The area is predominantly Christian, but traditional animism and belief in the powers of the supernatural have remained strong also. The PKI in West Timor showed from its earliest days up until the point when the party was dissolved that it was capable of mixing radical politics, Christianity, tradi tional magic, and witchcraft into a blend that was palatable to the variety of local tastes.2 The PKI was no latecomer to the region either, for in the very year the party was formed, Dutch officials in Timor reported communist activity in their area. Throughout the Dutch period there was regular men tion of communists undermining rust en orde (peace and order) in West Timor and the surrounding islands. Under the Indonesian administration the PKI blossomed in West Timor. By the mid-1960s there were PKI members in the

The Expansion of High School Education in Poor Regions: The Case of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

This paper explores the continuing labour market dilemmas resulting from the expansion of upper secondary and higher education in Indonesia. The situation is more acute in the poorer provinces such as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) with their limited demand for high school graduates. The findings presented here are based on a sample of 800 high school students in the West Timor region of NTT. The authors point to the problems inherent in the Indonesian government's goal of nine years' compulsory education by the year 2004, and suggest policy measures to avoid the wastage of talent in provinces such as East Nusa Tenggara.

Collisional melange development: Geologic associations of active melange‐forming processes with exhumed melange facies in the western Banda orogen, Indonesia

Analysis of block assemblages, matrix clay mineral composition and microfauna, and offshore seismic reflection profiles reveal that the Bobonaro melange in the Timor region is sourced from mud‐rich Australian continental margin sequences that are remobilized during accretion and form various facies depending on the structural conditions of emplacement. Melange facies include broken formation, matrix‐rich mud injections, and classic mixed block‐in‐clay facies. Each of these are distinguished by varying degrees of remobilization, mixing, and dispersion at different structural positions across the orogenic wedge. The most important structural control is whether melange was generated beneath or in front of upper plate Banda forearc basement (Banda Terrane). At the present collisional deformation front in the Timor trough, seismic reflection profiles show that melange forms mostly by stratal detachment and fluid‐assisted remobilization above a basal decollement propagating laterally along overpressured Jurassic to Cretaceous clay‐rich sequences of the distal Australian continental margin. The broken, clay‐rich material injects upward through faults to form intrusive bodies at the base of slope cover sediment to form mud ridges at the surface. Similar patterns of stratal disruption are exposed onshore in the Pliocene Kolbano fold and thrust wedge of southern Timor, which is structurally contiguous with the Timor trough deformation front. Melange in the Kolbano Mountains is mostly broken formation and matrix‐rich injections of mud from Jurassic and Cretaceous units. Deformation mechanisms include intense layer‐parallel extension associated with emplacement by mud diapirs that rise from near the decollement upward to the surface along fault conduits. In the hinterland of the orogenic wedge (East Timor and northern West Timor), melange is dominantly of mixed block‐in‐clay facies with large blocks derived from roof thrust sheets of intermixed Banda Terrane and Maubisse Formation units. At the structural base of these thrust sheets is the Sonnebait Disruption Zone (SDZ), which formed the initial suture between the Banda Terrane and structurally underthrust Australian continental margin sequences during the late Miocene to early Pliocene. The thickest accumulations of mixed block‐in‐clay melange in the Timor region are found at the southern edge (outlet) of the SDZ, near the Central and Viqueque synorogenic basins. The extent of block dispersion and mixing in the SDZ is indicative of intense shear strains perhaps induced by an oversupply of accretable material when the suture zone was clogged by underthrusting of the Australian continental margin.

Shear velocity structure beneath the Western Australian region

Single station group velocities for Rayleigh and Love waves in the period range 20–70 s have been derived for twelve propagation paths between the digital seismic station at Narrogin (NWAO) in Western Australia and events in the Bali to the Timor region. The group velocity dispersion separates into two distinctive sets. The first set, with azimuth between 193–203° (eastern paths), samples only the Western Australian continent, while the second set, with azimuth between 174–180°, samples 65% of the Western Australian continent together with 35% of the North Australian Basin (that part of the deep ocean of depth greater than 4 km between the northern part of Western Australia and Bali). The inversion of velocity dispersion of the eastern paths for shear velocity‐depth structure shows that a 40 ± 2.5 km thick crust needs an S‐velocity of 4.20 ± 0.05 km/s for the lower crust, and an increase in S‐velocity from 4.48 ± 0.07 km/s at the Moho to 4.7 ± 0.3 km/s at 320 km depth. The inversion of North Australian Basin Rayleigh wave group velocities, obtained by decomposition of velocities in the second set, shows a very thin crust, about 4 km thick, and a high S‐velocity, 4.7 km/s, for the uppermost mantle. This result is preliminary as the data are limited.

Rates of Neogene and Quaternary tectonic movements in the Southern Banda Arc based on micropalaeontology

It is generally considered that the Outer Banda Arc islands are composed in part of strongly deformed sediments that accumulated at the north Australian continental margin. The onset and completion of folding, nappe emplacement, imbrication and uplift that produced the islands of the Outer Banda Arc have been dated by means of planktonic foraminifera. The dating of the onset of uplift of Timor, from a deep submarine position at the end of the Neogene nappe emplacement, to mountains now reaching nearly 3 km high, indicates the rate of post-collision uplift to have been initially 3 mm/yr, then it slowed to about 1.5mm/yr. Where the Australian continental margin meets the eastern end of the present Java Trench there are indications that the Australian margin has overridden the Trench in the Timor region by 240 km. Micropalaeontological dating of the Neogene collision between the Australian continental slope–proximal rise and the trench provides constraints for checking the overriding hypothesis by calculating rates of convergence derived from plate motions (7.5cm/yr) against the rates based on the tectonic model (7.4cm/yr). After nappe emplacement (possibly faster than 6.25 cm/yr) shortening of the continental crust appears to have migrated towards the Australian continent so that the shelf itself has become involved in the imbrication with shortening of the cover rocks between the nappes and the present shelf edge amounting to about 40 km during the last 2 Ma

Paleoenvironmental Significance of Chert in the Franciscan Formation of Western California: Discussion Concerning the Significance of Chert in Timor

In his recent paper, Chipping (1971), in support of his argument that cherts may be developed in a particular setting relative to an ocean ridge and a subduction zone, discussed the mode of occurrence of chert in some Asian mountain belts. He referred to the occurrence of chert in Timor where, following Grunau (1965), he said it is an “important constituent” of a melange. Chipping went on to claim that there has been subduction of oceanic crust beneath continental crust in the Timor region, although he cited no evidence in support of this interpretation. This reply challenges both of these statements on the basis of field evidence that a relatively insignificant amount of chert is associated with the melange in Timor, and in the absence of any evidence to support his suggestion that subduction of oceanic crust below continental crust has occurred in the Timor region since the early Permian. Another model is proposed, which relates the occurrence of chert in Timor in part to lack of supply of coarse terrigenous detritus rather than to any physical barrier to turbidity currents as Chipping (1971) suggested. The present model proposes that Chert formed in Timor above a sedimentary sequence on continental crust close to the outer margin of the continental slope, and it involves the northward subduction of oceanic crust below oceanic crust away from the northern continental margin of Australia.