Spatial geoarchaeology of megalithic cultural site (Jere)at Ternate Aspiring National Geopark, North Maluku, Indonesia

Abstract

Ternate is an island in the Maluku archipelago, North Maluku province. Ternate Island is a volcanic island with the active volcano Gamalama. The City Government plans to establish a Ternate Geopark. Apart from geological sites such as the volcanic traces of Batu Angus, there is also a distribution of megalithic cultural artifacts in the form of menhirs and monoliths, sa-cred to the sultanate and the Ternate people, called Jere. This research was conducted to inves-tigate the relationship between the distribution of megalithic cultural sites and their natural surroundings.The research includes field surveys, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) rock geochemical analysis, digital elevation model (DEM) analysis, overlay processes, and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to obtain geospatial maps of the distribution of megalithic artifacts and the in-fluence of geological parameters on cultural formation. Seven geological parameters and 47 sub-parameters are analyzed. Geological parameters include lithology, elevation, slopes, land-scapes, surface water, groundwater, and volcanic hazard zones. The megalithic cultural sites era influenced three main aspects: volcanic hazard (with an influence of 37.97%; distance from rivers (with an influence of 25.75%), and geomorphology (with an influence of 13.78%). Volcanic hazard parameters are the primary consideration in site placement, especially in subparameter areas without potential disasters (with an influence of 43.86%). The river dis-tance is less than 250 m with an influence of 43.95%, while the geomorphology of the volcano's foot influences 46.85%.

Keywords

Ternate / aspiring national geopark megalithic / spatial geoarchaeology / geo-culture / linkage / analytical hierarchy process

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