Rethinking About Megalithic Term In Indonesian Culture

Etymologically, megalithic means mega: large; and litik: stone, in the context of culture is defined as a big stone culture. In the field of cultural knowledge and the study of the past, megalithic terms such as megalithic culture, megalithic era, megalithic traditions, as well as megalithic cultural traditions are often found. This article tries to describe the use of the term megalithic, because from the results of archeological research and cultural development in Indonesia, it seems that many megalithic notions are incompatible. Large as a size is no longer used as a benchmark, even stones with a small size, its size is less than 50 cm and cultural products made from wood that are used for ritual worship of spirits are also categorized as megalithic, and even more interesting is the mention of the megalithic period. To unravel these problems, a descriptive review was carried out on the ingredients, the types of ingredients, and the size of the cultural products used. Based on the results of the study it can be concluded, the term megalithic cannot be applied in general. Megalithic mention can only be done casually. The term that is more appropriate to use is a term related to its function as a medium of ancestor worship, and then referred to ancestor worship culture not megalithic culture.