Indonesia

Malaysia

Borneo
is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of
Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided between
Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Indonesia's region of Borneo is called
"Kalimantan" (although Indonesians use the term for the whole island),
while Malaysia's region of Borneo is called East Malaysia or Malaysian
Borneo. The independent nation of Brunei occupies the remainder of the
island.

DAYAK: Natives People of Borneo

Dayak, also Dyak, name applied to aborigines of the island of Borneo, particularly to the tribes
of the interior of the state of Sarawak. The Dayak are divided into six groups: the Penans,
Klemantans, and Kenyahs, who represent the oldest Dayak elements of Borneo, and the
Kayans, Muruts, and Ibans, who are later arrivals. Physically, the Dayak are the result of longterm admixture of Chinese, Malay, and Negrito peoples. The Ibans, known as Sea Dayak and
famous as pirates and conquerors, were probably the latest of the Dayak to arrive in Borneo;
they alone of the Dayak groups inhabit the coastal region. They bear strong ethnological
similarities to the Malays, who came to Borneo in the 12th century. The Ibans were converted
to Islam by the Malays (maintaining at the same time vestiges of traditional worship),
intermarried with the Malays, and no doubt influenced the Malay language, which is thought
to contain many words of Iban derivation.
The other Dayak groups, especially the Kayans and Penans, have maintained their ancient
customs, habits, and religious beliefs to a much greater extent. They follow a polytheistic rite
of worship that incorporates a system of major and minor gods. The form of worship and the
nomenclature of the respective gods vary from tribe to tribe.
The Dayak practice of headhunting, rooted for the most part in religious beliefs, is rapidly
dying out. The Ibans, formerly the most notorious of the headhunters, have given up the
custom more quickly than the other tribes, probably because, living on the coast, they are in
more direct contact with other cultures.
The Dayak are skilled in crafts, making fine cloth and excellent iron weapons. They are
efficient in the use of the blowpipe for hunting and are noted for the construction of
serviceable bamboo suspension bridges. Rice cultivation, hunting, and the gathering of wild
fruit are their main means of subsistence. The Dayak population of Borneo has been
estimated as slightly more than 1 million.
In recent years the traditional lifestyles of the Dayak have become increasingly endangered
by industrialization, logging, and forced government resettlement. Many Dayak have been
active in the struggle to save their dwindling coastal and rain forest homelands.

Dayak
is a name of tribes that identifies the various indigenous peoples on the island of Borneo by
the Indonesian part known as Kalimantan. They are divided into about 450 ethno-linguistic
groups. Despite some differences, these group share physical features, architecture,
language, an oral tradition, customs, social structure, weapons, agricultural technology and a
similar outlook on life.
Dayak population estimated at about four million spread over the four Indonesian provinces in
Kalimantan / Borneo, the Malaysian territories of Sabah and Serawak and Brunei
Darussalam. In Sabah, the Dayak are known as Kadazandusun.
In the past, anthropologists described the Dayak as the "legendary natives of Borneo" who
lived in longhouse and engaged in head-hunting. Today, they form a small minority, the loser
in an era of swift change and modernization.
The original Dayak identity their cultural, economic, religious and political life has been
preserved through their oral tradition. Experts agree that there are many basic affinitives in
the legends of the various Dayak groups. Sadly, though, all the original elements of Dayak life
as described in the legends have suffered significantly from external elements.
Modern Religions
Christianity greatly affected the status of legends among the Dayak groups. The legends,
which were recited during rituals, were dismissed as animistic. The Christian converts deem
adherents to the traditional religion primitive and obsolete. The doctrine was spread through
schools and sermons in the villages. In Central Kalimantan, people call it the "obsolete yeast"
or "emptying glass" policy. Anthropologist J.J. Kusni concludes in one of his books that the
propagation of Christianity amounts to the conquering of the Dayak.
The Christian proselytizers shouldering what they call la mission sacre of civilizing the
savage peoples see the Dayak culture as obsolete yeast, worth disposing. The obsolete
yeast concept tends to drain the Dayak of their culture and fill them out with new values,"
says Kusni. The policy was exercised not only in Central Kalimantan, but also in East, West
and South Kalimantan. Further, Christianity was considered as a savior and a symbol of
modernization. The impact has been great. The Christians are uncomfortable attending
funerals and weddings of pagans.
In a West Kalimantan village, used as a base by a Christian mission, posters are plastered all
over the place to intimidate Dayaks from practicing their cultural traditions. A poster in
illustrates a path branching in two. The left is "the road to hell", with a picture of a ritual at the
end of the road. The right is "the road to heaven", with a picture of modern life is seen at the
end of the road.
Lifestyle
Before the 1950s, the Dayak peoples lived in communal longhouses. Today, longhouses are
rare in Kalimantan. Their disappearance in turn affects the process of preserving the social,
economic, cultural, and political values of the Dayak. Before, children were taught the basics,
including the legends. Before going to bed, youngsters relaxed in the soah (open area) to
listen to their parents tell stories. The change from living in longhouses to single-family
houses makes it impossible for the Dayak to continue the story telling tradition. There is
simply not enough space in a single-family house for it.
The coming of radio and television has promoted a consumptive culture. This is the era of
new colonialism by capitalism. Dayak youngsters migrate to Indonesian cities in great
numbers, either to pursue their studies or make a living. They are enthralled with the glamour
and lifestyle of urban Indonesians. Some drop out of school, lacking skills and knowledge, to
pursue this lifestyle. This is the short cut attitude. In Pontianak, for example, dozens of Dayak
girls, end up working the bars, karaoke joints and hotels.

Since the 1970s, the Dayak have been baffled by the existence of mining projects, logging by
forest concessionaires, plantations and industrial timber estates. Socio-economic expert
Mubyarto said the presence of the giant projects in Kalimantan changed the Dayaks source
of wealth.
The rattan monopoly has impoverished the Dayak in East and Central Kalimantan. The gold
mining in Ampalit (Central Kalimantan ), coal mining in East Kalimantan and gold mining in
Monterado (West Kalimantan) have caused the locals to suffer. The same thing has
happened to the Dayak Bentian, Dayak Pawan-Keriau and Empurang. They struggle against
the plantations, which are partly financed with foreign loans. They are forced to give their land
to the investors. After the land transfer, all the plants, all the sacred places and cemeteries
were demolished and replaced by palm oil trees. They are forced to pay the investors for the
privilege of living on their own land in installments.
The project ruins the environment, as well as the social, cultural and political patterns. They
have marginalized the sovereignty and dignity of the Dayak over the Land and natural
resources.

Dayak people
Dayak
Total population

2 to 4 million (est.)[1][2]
Regions with significant populations
Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei
Language(s)
Dayak languages
Religion(s)
Kaharingan-Hinduism, Christianity, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Ahe, Banjar, Barito, Benuaq, Berawan, Bidayuh, Bukitan, Dumpas, Dusun, Iban, Iban
Mualang, Iban Embaloh, Ida'an, Illanun, Kadazan, Kayan, Kedayan, Kelabit, Kendayan,
Kenyah, Kejaman, Kwijau, Lun Bawang, Lun Dayeh, Lotud, Maloh, Mangka'ak, Maragang,
Melanau (-Kajang), Minokok, Murut, Ngaju, Penan, Punan Ba, Rajang, Rumanau, Rungus,
Selakau, Sepan, Taman, Tambanuo, Tanjung, Tidong, Ukit, etc

The Dayak or Dyak (IPA: /dak/) are the peoples indigenous to Borneo.[3] It is a loose term
for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic subgroups, located principally in the interior of
Borneo, each with its own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture, although common
distinguishing traits are readily identifiable. Dayaks are categorised as part of wider
Austronesian-speaking populations in Asia. The Dayak were animist in belief, however many
converted to Christianity, and some to Islam more recently.[4] Estimates for the Dayak
population range from 2 to 4 million.[1][2]
History of the Dayak People
Common interpretations in modern anthropology agree
that nearly all indigenous peoples of South East Asia,
including the Dayaks, are descendants of a larger more
common Austronesian migration from Asia, regarded to
have settled in the South East Asian Archipelago some
3,000 years ago. The first populations spoke various
languages and dialects now termed under the collective
Austronesian Lingua, from which Dayak languages are
traced. About 2,450 years ago, metallurgy was
introduced and subsequently became widespread.
The main ethnic groups of Dayaks are the Bakumpai
and Dayak Bukit of South Kalimantan, The Ngajus,
Baritos, Benuaqs of East Kalimantan, the Kayan and
Kenyah groups and their subtribes in Central Borneo and the Ibans, Embaloh (Maloh), Kayan,
Kenyah, Penan, Kelabit, Lun Bawang and Taman populations in the Kapuas and Sarawak
regions. Other populations include the Ahe, Jagoi, Selakau, Bidayuh, and Kutais.
The Dayak people of Borneo possess an indigenous account of their history, partly in writing
and partly in common cultural customary practices. In addition, colonial accounts and reports
of Dayak activity in Borneo detail carefully cultivated economic and political relationships with

other communities as well as an ample body of research and study considering historical
Dayak migrations. In particular, the Iban or the Sea Dayak exploits in the South China Seas
are documented, owing to their ferocity and aggressive culture of war against sea dwelling
groups and emerging Western trade interests in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Coastal populations in Borneo are largely Muslim in belief, however these groups (Ilanun,
Melanau, Kadayan, Bakumpai, Bisayah) are generally considered to be Islamized Dayaks,
native to Borneo, and governed by the relatively high cultural influences of the Javanese
Majapahit Kingdoms and Islamic Malay Sultanates, periodically covering South East Asian
history.
Economy
Agriculture
Traditionally, Dayak agriculture was based on swidden rice cultivation. Agricultural Land in this
sense was used and defined primarily in terms of hill rice farming, ladang (garden), and hutan
(forest). Dayaks organised their labour in terms of traditionally based land holding groups
which determined who owned rights to land and how it was to be used. The "green revolution"
in the 1950s, spurred on the planting of new varieties of wetland rice amongst Dayak tribes.
The main dependence on subsistence and mid-scale agriculture by the Dayak has made this
group active in this industry. The modern day rise in large scale monocrop plantations such as
palm oil and bananas proposed for vast swathes of Dayak land held under customary rights,
titles and claims in Indonesia, threaten the local political landscape in various regions in
Borneo. Further problems continue to arise in part due to the shaping of the modern
Malaysian and Indonesian nation state on colonial political systems and laws on land tenure.
The conflict between the state and the Dayak natives on land laws and native customary
rights will continue as long as the model on land tenure is used against local customary law.
The main precept of land use, interpreted by local customary law, is the precept that
cultivated land is considered to be owned and held in right by the native owners, and the
concept of land ownershipflows out of this central belief. This understanding of adat is based
on the idea that land is used and held under native domain. Invariably, when colonial rule was
first felt in the Kalimantan Kingdoms, conflict over the subjugation of territory erupted several
times between the Dayaks and the respective authorities.
Religion
The Dayak indigenous religion is Kaharingan, a form of animism which, for official purposes,
is categorized as a form of Hinduism in Indonesia. The practice of Kaharingan differs from
group to group, and for example in some religious customary practices, when a noble
(kamang) dies, it is believed that the spirit ascends to a mountain where the spirits of past
ancestors of the tribe reside.[5] On particular religious occasions, the spirit is believed to
descend to partake in celebration, a mark of honour and respect to past ancestries and
blessings for a prosperous future.
Over the last two centuries, some Dayaks converted to Islam, abandoning certain cultural
rites and practices. Christianity was introduced by European missionaries in Borneo and may
have been a deliberate policy by the colonial authorities to create a social bulwark against the
spread of Islam.[citation needed] Religious differences between Muslim and Christian natives of
Borneo has led, at various times, to communal tensions. [citation needed] Relations, however in all
religious groups are generally good.
Muslim Dayaks have however retained their original identity and kept various customary
practices consistent with their religion.

An example of common identity, over and above religious belief, is the Melanau group.
Despite the small population, to the casual observer, the coastal dwelling Melanau of
Sarawak, generally do not identify with one religion, as a number of them have Islamized and
Christianised over a period of time. A few practise a distinct Dayak form of Kaharingan, known
as Liko. Liko is the earliest surviving form of religious belief for the Melanau, predating the
arrival of Islam and Christianity to Sarawak. The somewhat patchy religious divisions remain,
however the common identity of the Melanau is held politically and socially. Social cohesion
amongst the Melanau, despite religious differences, is markedly tight. [citation needed]
Despite the destruction of pagan religions in Europe by Christians, most of the people who try
to conserve the Dayak's religion are missionaries. For example Reverend William Howell who
has contributed to the Sarawak National Gazette. His contributions were also compiled in the
book "The Sea Dayaks and Other Races Of Sarawak"
Society
Kinship in Dayak society is traced in both lines. Although, in Dayak Iban society, men and
women possess equal rights in status and property ownership, political office has strictly been
the occupation of the traditional Iban Patriarch. Overall Dayak leadership in any given region,
is marked by titles, a Penghulu for instance would have invested authority on behalf of a
network of Tuai Rumah's, and so on to a Temenggung or Panglima. It must be noted that
individual Dayak groups have their social and hierarchy systems defined internally, and these
differ widely from Ibans to Ngajus and Benuaqs to Kayans.
The most salient feature of Dayak social organisation is the practice of Longhouse domicile.
This is a structure supported by hardwood posts that can be hundreds of metres long, usually
located along a terraced river bank. At one side is a long communal platform, from which the
individual households can be reached. The Iban of the Kapuas and Sarawak have organized
their Longhouse settlements in response to their migratory patterns. Iban Longhouses vary in
size, from those slightly over 100 metres in length to large settlements over 500 metres in
length. Longhouses have a door and apartment for every family living in the longhouse. For
example, a Longhouse of 200 doors is equivalent to a settlement of 200 families.
Headhunting was an important part of Dayak culture, in particular to the Iban and Kenyah.
There used to be a tradition of retaliation for old headhunts, which kept the practise alive.
External interference by the reign of the Brooke Rajahs in Sarawak and the Dutch in
Kalimantan Borneo curtailed and limited this tradition. Apart from massed raids, the practice
of headhunting was limited to individual retaliation attacks or the result of chance encounters.
Early Brooke Government reports describe Dayak Iban and Kenyah War parties with captured
enemy heads. At various times, there have been massive coordinated raids in the interior, and
throughout coastal Borneo, directed by the Raj during Brooke's reign in Sarawak. This may
have given rise to the term, Sea Dayak, although, throughout the 19th Century, Sarawak
Government raids and independent expeditions appeared to have been carried out as far as
Brunei, Mindanao, East coast Malaya, Jawa and Celebes. Tandem diplomatic relations
between the Sarawak Government (Brooke Rajah) and Britain (East India Company and the
Royal Navy) acted as a pivot and a deterrence to the former's territorial ambitions, against the
Dutch administration in the Kalimantan regions and client Sultanates.
Metal-working is elaborately used for making mandaus (machetes - 'parang' in Indonesian ).
The blade is made of a softer iron, to prevent breakage, with a narrow strip of a harder iron
wedged into a slot in the cutting edge for sharpness. The headhunting necessitated being
able to draw the parang quickly. For this purpose, the mandau is fairly short, which also better
serves the purpose of trailcutting in dense forest. It is holstered with the cutting edge facing
upwards and at that side there is an upward protrusion on the handle, so it can be drawn very
quickly with the side of the hand without having to reach over and grasp the handle first. The
hand can then grasp the handle while it is being drawn. The combination of these three
factors (short, cutting edge up and protrusion) makes for an extremely fast drawing-action.
The ceremonial mandaus used for dances are as beautifully adorned with feathers as the

dresses are. There are various terms to describe different types of Dayak blades. The Nyabor
is the traditional Iban Scimitar, Parang Ilang is common to Kayan and Kenyah Swordsmiths,
and Duku is a multipurpose farm tool and machete of sorts.
Politics
Dayaks in Indonesia and Malaysia have figured prominently in the politics of these countries.
Organised Dayak political representation in the Indonesian State first appeared in Kalimantan
during the Dutch Administration, in the form of the Dayak Unity Party (Parti Persatuan Dayak)
in the 30s and 40s. Feudal Dayak Sultanates of Kutai, Banjar and Pontianak figured
prominently prior to the rise of the Dutch Colonial rule.
Dayaks in Sarawak in this respect, compare very poorly with their organised brethren in
Kalimantan due to in no part, the personal fiefdom that was the Brooke Rajah dominion and
latently the pattern of their historical migrations from the Kalimantan Regions to the then
pristine Rajang Basin. Political circumtances aside, the Dayaks in Kalimantan actively
organised under various associations beginning with the Sarekat Dayak established in 1919,
to the Parti Dayak in the 40s, and to the present day, where Dayaks occupy key positions in
government.
In Sarawak, Dayak political activism had its roots in the SNAP (Sarawak National Party) and
Pesaka during post independence construction in the 1960s. These parties shaped to a
certain extent Dayak politics in the State, although never enjoying the real privileges and
benefits of Chief Ministerial power relative to its large electorate.
Under Indonesia's transmigration programme, settlers from densely-populated Java and
Madura were encouraged to settle in the Kalimantan provinces, but their presence was, and
still is, resented by Dayaks, Banjars and local Malays . The large scale transmigration
projects initiated by the Dutch and continued by the current national government, caused
widespread breakdown in social and community cohesion during the late 20th Century. In
2001 the Indonesian government ended the gradual Javanese settlement of Kalimantan that
began under Dutch rule in 1905.
From 1996 to 2003 there were systemic and violent attacks on Indonesian Madurese settlers,
including mass executions of whole Madurese transmigrant communities. Eventually, order
was restored by the Indonesian Military but this was late in application.

Batak (Indonesia)
Not to be confused with Batak of the Philippines.

batak
Total population

9 million
Regions with significant populations
North Sumatra: 5.6 million
Language(s)
Batak languages (Alas-Kluet, Angkola, Dairi, Karo,
Mandailing, Simalungun, Toba), Malay, Indonesian
Religion(s)
Christian, Muslim, Parmalim, Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Malay

Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of ethnic groups found

in the highlands of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Their heartland lies to the
west of Medan centred on Lake Toba.
In fact the "Batak" include
several groups with distinct,
albeit related, languages and
customs (adat). While the term
is used to include the Toba,
Karo, Pak Pak, Simalungun,
Angkola and Mandailing
groups, some of these peoples
prefer not to be known as
Batak.

Society
Batak societies are
patriarchal organized along
clans known as Marga. The
Toba Batak believe that they
originate from one ancestor
"Si Raja Batak", with all
Margas, descended from
him. A family tree that
defines the father-son

relationship among Batak people is called tarombo. Toba Batak are known
traditionally for their weaving, wood carving and especially ornate stone
tombs. Their burial and marriage traditions are very rich and complex. The
burial tradition includes a ceremony in which the bones of one's ancestors
are reinterred several years after death. This secondary burial is known
among the Toba Batak as (mangongkal holi).
Judge Place of Batak Toba

Before they became subjects of the colonial

Dutch East Indies government, the Batak had a
reputation for being fierce warriors. Today the
Batak are mostly Christian with a Muslim
minority. Presently the largest Christian
congregation in Indonesia is the HKBP (Huria
Kristen Batak Protestan) Christian church. The dominant Christian
theology was brought by Lutheran German missionaries in the 19th
century, including the well-known missionary Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen.
Christianity was introduced to the Karo by Dutch Calvinist missionaries and
their largest church is the GBKP (Gereja Batak Karo Protestan). But, the
Mandailing Batak were converted to Islam in the early 19th century.

Language
Batak speak a variety of closely related languages, all members of the
Austronesian language family. There are two major branches, a northern
branch comprising the Pakpak language and the Batak Karo language that
are similar to each other but distinctly different from the languages of the
southern branch comprising three mutually intelligible dialects: Toba,
Angkola and Mandailing. Simalungun Batak is an early offspring of the
southern branch. Some Simalungun dialects can be understood by
speakers of Karo Batak whereas other dialects of Simalungun can be
understood by speakers of Toba. This is due to the existence of a linguistic
continuum that often blurs the lines between the six Batak dialects.
BATAK RELIGION. The Batak societies, located around Lake Toba in
North Sumatra, are among the more than three hundred ethnic
minorities of Indonesia. Batak religion, like Batak culture as a whole, is
ethnically diverse, syncretic, changing, and bound at once to both
village social organizational patterns and the monotheistic national
culture of Indonesia. Like many religious traditions of Indonesia,
Malaysia, and the Philippines, Batak myths and rituals focus on the
yearly cycle of rice cultivation activities and the local kinship system.
Batak religions tie these two realms to a larger cosmological order,
which is then represented in various religious art forms (traditional
house architecture, village spatial layout, and wood sculpture) and
ritual activities (dances, oratory, and gift-giving ceremonies). Batak
kinship revolves around marriage alliances that link together lineages

of patrilineal clans, called marga. This marriage system, which involves

ritually superior and "holy" wife-providing lineages and their ritually
subordinate, "mundane" wife-receiving lineages, is much celebrated in
the indigenous Batak religions. Many village rites of passage, for
instance, are largely occasions for eulogizing this asymmetrical
marriage alliance system through hours of ritual oratory. Beyond these
very localized ethnic patterns, however, Batak religious life extends
outward into the world religions: the large majority of homeland Batak
and virtually all migrants to cities in Sumatra and Java are Muslim or
Christian.

Lake Toba
Lake Toba

Location

Landsat photo
North Sumatra, Indonesia
237N 9849ECoordinates:

Coordinates

237N 9849E

Lake type
Primary
outflows
Basin
countries
Max. length
Max. width
Surface area
Max. depth
Water volume
Surface
elevation
Islands

Volcanic/ tectonic
Asahan River
Indonesia
100 km
30 km
1,130 km
505 m[1]
240 km
905 m
Samosir

Lake Toba (Indonesian: Danau Toba) is a lake, 100 km long and 30 km

wide, and 505 m. (1,666 ft.) at its deepest point, in the middle of the
northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation
of about 900 m (3,000 feet), stretching from 2.88 N 98.52 E to 2.35
N 99.1 E. It is the largest volcanic lake in the world.[1]

Geology
In 1949 the Dutch geologist Rein van Bemmelen reported that Lake Toba
was surrounded by a layer of ignimbrite rocks, and that it was a large
volcanic caldera. Later researchers found rhyolite ash similar to that in the
ignimbrite around Toba (now called Young Toba Tuff to distinguish it from
layers deposited in previous explosions) in Malaysia and India, 3,000 km
away. Oceanographers discovered Toba ash, with its characteristic
chemical "fingerprint", on the floor of the eastern Indian Ocean and the Bay
of Bengal.

The eruption

The Toba eruption (the Toba event) occurred at what is now Lake Toba
about 67,500 to 75,500 years ago.[2] It had an estimated Volcanic
Explosivity Index of 8 (described as "mega-colossal"), making it possibly
the largest explosive volcanic eruption within the last twenty-five million
years. Bill Rose and Craig Chesner of Michigan Technological University
deduced that the total amount of erupted material was about 2800 cubic
km (670 cubic miles) around 2,000 km of ignimbrite that flowed over
the ground and around 800 km that fell as ash, with the wind blowing most
of it to the west. By contrast, the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens ejected
around 1.2 cubic km of material, whilst the largest volcanic eruption in
historic times, at Mount Tambora in 1815, emitted the equivalent of around
100 cubic kilometres of dense rock and created the "Year Without a
Summer" as far away as North America.
The Toba eruption was the latest of a series of at least three calderaforming eruptions which have occurred at the volcano. Earlier calderas
were formed around 700,000 and 840,000 years ago. [3]
To give an idea of its magnitude, consider that although the eruption took
place in Indonesia, it deposited an ash layer approximately 15 cm (6 in)
thick over the entire Indian subcontinent; at one site in central India, the
Toba ash layer today is up to 6 m (20 feet) thick [4] and parts of Malaysia
were covered with 9 m of ashfall.[5] In addition it has been calculated that
1010 metric tons of sulphuric acid was ejected into the atmosphere by the
event, causing acid rain fallout.[6]
The subsequent collapse formed a caldera that, after filling with water,
created Lake Toba. The island in the center of the lake is formed by a
resurgent dome.
Though the year can never be precisely determined, the season can: only
the summer monsoon could have deposited Toba ashfall in the South
China Sea, implying that the eruption took place sometime during the
northern summer.[7] The eruption lasted perhaps two weeks, but the
ensuing "volcanic winter" resulted in a decrease in average global
temperatures by 3 to 3.5 degrees Celsius for several years. Greenland ice
cores record a pulse of starkly reduced levels of organic carbon
sequestration. Very few plants or animals in southeast Asia would have
survived, and it is possible that the eruption caused a planet-wide die-off.
There is some evidence, based on mitochondrial DNA, that the human
race may have passed through a genetic bottleneck within this timeframe,
reducing genetic diversity below what would be expected from the age of
the species. According to the Toba catastrophe theory proposed by Stanley
H. Ambrose of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1998,
human populations may have been reduced to only a few tens of
thousands of individuals by the Toba eruption. [8]

More recent activity

Children playing in Lake Toba

Smaller eruptions have occurred at Toba since. The small cone of

Pusukbukit has formed on the southwestern margin of the caldera and
lava domes. The most recent eruption may have been at Tandukbenua on
the northwestern caldera edge, since the present lack of vegetation could
be due to an eruption within the last few hundred years. [9]
Some parts of the caldera have experienced uplift due to partial refilling of
the magma chamber, for example pushing Samosir Island and the Uluan
Peninsula above the surface of the lake. The lake sediments on Samosir
Island show that it has been uplifted by at least 450 metres [10] since the
cataclysmic eruption. Such uplifts are common in very large calderas,
apparently due to the upward pressure of unerupted magma. Toba is
probably the largest resurgent caldera on Earth. Large earthquakes have
occurred in the vicinity of the volcano more recently, notably in 1987 along
the southern shore of the lake at a depth of 11 km.[11] Other earthquakes
have occurred in the area in 1892, 1916, and 1920-1922. [12]
Lake Toba lies near a fault line which runs along the centre of Sumatra
called the Sumatra Fracture Zone.[13] The volcanoes of Sumatra and Java
are part of the Sunda Arc, a result of the northeasterly movement of the
Indo-Australian Plate which is sliding under the eastward-moving Eurasian
Plate. The subduction zone in this area is very active: the seabed near the
west coast of Sumatra has had several major earthquakes since 1995,
including the 9.3 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and the 8.7 2005
Sumatra earthquake, the epicenters of which were around 300 km from
Toba.
On September 12th, 2007, a magnitude 8.4 Earthquake shook the ground
by Sumatra and was felt in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The epicenter
for this earthquake was not as close as the previous two earthquakes, but
it was in the same vicinity.

A view of Lake Toba from the island of Prapat

People

Toba House

Most of the people who live around Lake Toba are ethnically Bataks.
Traditional Batak houses are noted for their distinctive roofs (which curve
upwards at each end, as a boat's hull does) and their colorful decor.