ABSTRACT
Discovery of ruins or artifacts of ancient times may lead to the discovery of their food culture, land use traditions, and agricultural system. Analyzing from different perspectives and using numerous theories as well as the findings from previous studies on ancient food culture and land use tradition, we could generate new approaches that can enrich and develop archeology and other fields of sciences and technology. From the analysis of the spatial archeology of the location of a temple built during ancient times, we might surmise that people who lived in that location may have had a certain agricultural system. This assumption, however, needs further research. Through epigraphic, toponymic, and geographical analyses; spatial archeological analysis of the locations described in the inscriptions; and by further observing and studying the ruins of the material culture, we could deduce the tradition and culture as well as the food habits at that time, including their preparation and processing methods using the available technology. Although data about the ruins of material culture and associated inscriptions are primarily used to support these findings, study of the environment of the area where these people lived, including its climate, geographical landscapes, and land and soil quality, is also considered as an influencing factor. We study the methods of maintaining, storing, processing, and consuming food to investigate our current tradition and culture, the results of which may serve as an evidence to deduce the past tradition and culture. In this study, we investigate whether the ancient food and land use cultures still exist today and whether they are being properly identified in the island of Java.
