When visitors enter the Pokekea Megalithic Site, Baliura, Central Lore, Baliura, Poso, Poso Regency, Central Sulawesi, they will immediately be greeted by a 190-centimeter-high kalamba with a diameter of 160 centimeters and a depth of 90 centimeters.

Kalamba in Lore language, the language used by the Behoa Valley community, means spirit boat. Its shape resembles a drum or barrel made of stone. Meanwhile, in modern life, kalamba is identical to a jar for storing water.

“The human faces carved near the mouth of the kalamba bow respectfully in greeting,” wrote Videlis Jemali in Tanah Air: Cermin Agung di Lembah Behoa published in Kompas.

At the Pokekea Megalithic Site, there are 27 kalamba out of 113 ancient objects in the place. The rest are statues carved with human faces and stone slabs. The site is one of 50 locations where megalithic cultural relics have been discovered in the Behoa Valley.

In total, there are 300 megalithic objects in around 40 sites spread across Lore Tengah District, spread across Katu, Rompo, Toriere, Bariri, Doda, Hangira, and Lempe Villages. These objects have been around since 2,500 years Before Christ (BCE).

“The relics mostly consist of kalamba and statues carved with human faces,” said the Manado Archaeological Agency.

Pokekea Megalithic Site caretaker, Sunardi Pokiro stated that other kalambas that are relatively shorter in size do not have motifs. The walls of that type of kalamba are not decorated with any carvings.

Meanwhile, he explained that kalamba is estimated to have two uses. First as a grave. Then the second is a place to store bones. This refers to research that found skulls and teeth of more than one individual.

“The patterned kalamba was used as a second grave,” he said.

In the legend that developed in the Lore community, kalamba is also believed to be used as a place to store bath water for noble princesses. In this case, a plain kalamba is used.

All megalithic relics in the Behoa Valley are made of stone. Fragments of carvings and sculptures of these objects are found in two sites in the Hangira forest. Both sites are thought to be workshops for the production of megalithic objects.

Doda Village traditional figure, Aminadab Soro stated that the ancient objects showed the high level of human civilization at that time. These very beautiful objects were produced from sophisticated ways of thinking and skills.

“This awareness also makes residents in the Behoa Valley look after these objects,” he said.

Aminadab said that before the research of megalithic sites in Central Sulawesi in 1980, residents did not really care about the presence of these ancient objects. Because at that time, residents did not understand the great value contained in them.

“After researchers socialized the discovery of these objects, we understood,” he said.