Indonesia has significant potential for the archaeological study, currently under development, of submerged landscapes in marine, river, and lake environments (Adhityatama and Yarista 2019). This article focuses on the site of Pontada, suspected of being a submerged ironworking village, which was discovered in 2016. In this article, we describe Pontada iron implements dating to the mid-second millennium A.D., placing them within the context of local smelting of Lake Matano iron ore by the late first millennium A.D. and the mid-second millennium A.D. rise of Luwu as a powerful political entity.

Proyek Pengeboran Danau Towuti adalah suatu kolaborasi internasional antara ilmuwan dari Amerika Serikat, Indonesia, Jerman, Kanada, Australia, Swiss, Singapura, dan Inggris. Proposal riset kami dilandaskan pada tujuan ilmiah yang telah dirumuskan pada Lokakarya Pengeboran Danau Towuti pada bulan Maret 2012 dan diikuti oleh 62 ilmuwan serta mitra industri dan pemerintahan.