Compositional Analysis O Ancient Bricks From The Seg-II Temple (Unur Lempeng), Batujaya, Indonesia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine whether the ancient bricks from Candi SEG II (Lempeng) are made from local raw material or otherwise. Candi SEG II is located in a cultivation area which has unearthed various interesting artefacts like fragments of pottery, rouletted pottery, glass beads, animal bones, skeletons and inscriptions with Palava characters. The main construction materials used to build the temple consisted of bricks, while limestone was used as the mortar. The upper part of the temple is believed to have been built using wooden structures and the roof using palm leaves. Scientific analysis on the bricks shows that local raw material was used to produce these bricks. Scientific analysis using the X-ray fluorescence technique and X-ray diffraction technique can determine the chemical composition of the bricks; among others the mineral content of the bricks as well as the major element and trace element content. The usage of local raw material also demonstrated the local wisdom in temple construction technology and also the technique in producing bricks that had existed.