Editing Mount Tambora (section)

== Culture ==
[[File:Tambora-Vesuv.jpg|thumb|right|Size comparison of Mount Tambora ("Pompeii of the East") and Mount Vesuvius ("Pompeii")]]
{{Main|Tambora culture}}

A human settlement obliterated by the Tambora eruption was discovered in 2004. That summer, a team led by [[Haraldur Sigurðsson]] with scientists from the [[University of Rhode Island]], the [[University of North Carolina at Wilmington]] and the Indonesian Directorate of Volcanology began an [[Excavation (archaeology)|archaeological dig]] in Tambora. Over six weeks, they unearthed evidence of habitation about {{convert|25|km|mi}} west of the caldera, deep in jungle, {{convert|5|km|mi}} from shore. The team excavated {{convert|3|m|ft}} of deposits of pumice and ash.<ref name="URI">{{cite press release |title=URI volcanologist discovers lost kingdom of Tambora |publisher=University of Rhode Island |date=27 February 2006 |url=http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/index.php?id=3467 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721214614/http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/index.php?id=3467 |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 July 2006 |access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref> The scientists used [[ground-penetrating radar]] to locate a small buried house which contained the remains of two adults, bronze bowls, ceramic pots, iron tools and other artifacts.<ref name="URI"/> Tests revealed that objects had been carbonized by the heat of the [[magma]]. Sigurdsson dubbed the find the "[[Pompeii]] of the East",<ref>{{cite news |work=BBC News |title='Pompeii of the East' discovered |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4748902.stm |date=28 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061219200937/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4748902.stm |archive-date=19 December 2006 |access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=Bloomberg Asia |title=Indonesian Volcano Site Reveals 'Pompeii of the East' (Update1) |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=agqrX3FIpeQU&refer=asia |date=28 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930035748/https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=agqrX3FIpeQU&refer=asia |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref> and media reports referred to the "Lost Kingdom of Tambora".<ref name="natgeo">{{cite magazine |last=Roach |first=John |magazine=National Geographic |title="Lost Kingdom" Discovered on Volcanic Island in Indonesia |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0227_060227_lost_kingdom.html |date=27 February 2006 |access-date=9 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114083821/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0227_060227_lost_kingdom.html |archive-date=14 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=International Herald Tribune |title='Lost kingdom' springs from the ashes |date=1 March 2006 |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/01/healthscience/snvolc.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060313061251/http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/01/healthscience/snvolc.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 March 2006 |access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref> Sigurdsson intended to return to Tambora in 2007 to search for the rest of the villages, and hopefully to find a palace.<ref name="URI"/> Many villages in the area had converted to Islam in the 17th century, but the structures uncovered so far do not show Islamic influence.<ref name="natgeo"/>

Based on the artifacts found, such as [[bronzeware]] and finely decorated china possibly of [[Vietnam]]ese or [[Cambodia]]n origin, the team concluded that the people were well-off traders.<ref name="natgeo"/> The Sumbawa people were known in the [[East Indies]] for their horses, honey, [[sappan wood]] (for producing red dye), and [[sandalwood]] (for [[incense]] and medications). The area was thought to be highly productive agriculturally.<ref name="URI"/>

The [[tambora language|language of the Tambora people]] was lost with the eruption. Linguists have examined remnant lexical material, such as records by Zollinger and Raffles, and established that Tambora was not an [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] language, as would be expected in the area, but possibly a [[language isolate]], or perhaps a member of one of the families of [[Papuan language]]s found {{convert|500|km}} or more to the east.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Donohue |first=Mark |year=2007 |title=The Papuan Language of Tambora |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5a78/bd8f4b2f955122b6b546ff2b76508f5fd6d9.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802223515/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5a78/bd8f4b2f955122b6b546ff2b76508f5fd6d9.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 August 2018 |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=520–537 |jstor=20172326 |access-date=2 August 2018 |doi=10.1353/ol.2008.0014 |s2cid=26310439}}</ref>

The eruption is captured in latter-day folklore, which explains the cataclysm as divine retribution. A local ruler is said to have incurred the wrath of [[Allah]] by feeding dog meat to a ''[[hajji]]'' and killing him.<ref name="Boers1995"/> This is expressed in a poem written around 1830:
{{Verse translation|
Bunyi bahananya sangat berjabuh
Ditempuh air timpa habu
Berteriak memanggil anak dan ibu
Disangkanya dunia menjadi kelabu

Asalnya konon Allah Taala marah
Perbuatan sultan Raja Tambora
Membunuh tuan haji menumpahkan darah
Kuranglah pikir dan kira-kira
|Its noise reverberated loudly
Torrents of water mixed with ash descended
Children and mothers screamed and cried
Believing the world had turned to ash

The cause was said to be the wrath of God Almighty
At the deed of the King of Tambora
In murdering a worthy pilgrim, spilling his blood
Rashly and thoughtlessly<ref name="Boers1995"/>}}