WOOD COFFINS IN SELAYAR AND THEIR COUNTERPARTS IN SEVERAL REGIONS IN THE PROVINCES OF SOUTH SULAWESI AND SOUTHEAST SULAWESI
Authors: AKW Bernadeta 
Published: July 2021

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui distribusi wadah kubur kayu yang diletakkan di gua-gua di Kepulauan Selayar dan perbandingannya dengan beberapa daerah di Sulawesi Selatan dan Tenggara. Dalam pencapaiannya, selain diuraikan bentuk-bentuk wadah kubur kayu di gua-gua Selayar, juga dilakukan deskripsi temuan sejenis di Bulukumba, Enrekang, Toraja (Sulawesi Selatan) dan Kolaka Utara (Sulawesi Tenggara). Metode yang digunakan adalah studi literatur (desk study), yaitu mencari dan menghimpun berbagai referensi berkaitan dengan topik penelitian. Selanjutnya dilakukan pengolahan data dengan disertai analisis bentuk, sebaran dan etnografi serta pembuatan peta. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa distribusi wadah kubur kayu baik di pesisir maupun di pedalaman Sulawesi Selatan terdapat di Selayar, Bulukumba, Enrekang dan Toraja. Demikian pula di Sulawesi Tenggara wadah kubur kayu ditemukan di gua-gua khususnya di daerah Kolaka Utara. Dari data literatur menunjukkan wadah kubur kayu berawal di Toraja sekitar abad ke-8 M dan mengalami perkembangan pada abad ke-12 dan ke-13 Masehi. Kontinuitas tradisi itu masih berlangsung di Toraja yang merupakan daerah pegunungan yang secara geografis cukup terisolir sehingga lambat dalam memperoleh perubahan budaya pada masa-masa tertentu. Secara etnografis, wadah kubur kayu yang digunakan oleh sebagian masyarakat Toraja sekarang memiliki perbedaan secara tipologis. Berbeda dengan Enrekang, meskipun terletak pada topografi perbukitan dan pegunungan, namun masyarakatnya tidak lagi menggunakan wadah kubur kayu disebabkan kuatnya pengaruh agama Islam.

This research aims to establish the distribution of wood coffins placed in caves in Selayar Islands and their counterparts in several regions in South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi. To meet the aim, the research describes the forms of wood coffins placed in caves in Selayar, Bulukumba, Enrekang, and Toraja (South Sulawesi) and Kolaka Utara (Southeast Sulawesi). The method used was literature study (desk study), which comprises the activities of finding and collecting various references related to the research topic. The collected data were analyzed to find out the forms, distribution and ethnography of wood coffins in those regions. A map of the distribution of wood coffins in the regions was also made. The results of the research show that the distribution of wood coffins in the coastal areas and hinterlands in South Sulawesi is found in Selayar, Bulukumba, Enrekang and Toraja. In Southeast Sulawesi especially in the region of Kolaka Utara, wood coffins are found in caves. The data collected through literature study show that the tradition of using wood coffins started in Toraja around the 8th century and experienced rapid development in the 12th and 13th centuries. Today the tradition is still performed in Toraja. This region is mountainous, so that it did not undergo rapid cultural changes in some certain eras. Ethnographically, the wood coffins now used by some of the Toraja communities have typological differences compared with the ones used in the past. Enrekang is also a mountainous area. However, the community does not use wood coffins anymore due to the strong influence of Islam.