The oendja ateueng (Atjehnese oendja, post; ateueng, the little dike of a rice field) was the boundary post buried in the ground at the corners of a sawah in the landschap (territory) Pidië-proper, onderafdeeling (subdivision) Sigli, serving both as a foundation for works such as dams and as latent evidence of the boundary.
Function
D. W. N. de Boer recorded that in Pidië-proper it was of old the custom to bury posts in the ground at the corners of sawah’s, these serving at the same time as a foundation for the construction of dams and similar works. Their purpose was that at any future time, in the event of a boundary dispute, convincing evidence could at once be produced: one had only to dig up the oendja ateueng to have a sound beginning of proof.
In the law of proof
In Groot-Atjeh, where a plaintiff alleging an earlier possessory right over wet rice fields had to point to visible traces of former cultivation, the oendja — together with a former watercourse (loeëng) and traces of ateueng (Malay galangan) — could serve as further proof.
See Also
Source
Het recht op den grond in Atjeh, by D. W. N. de Boer, dated Scheveningen, November 1931, pp. 59-80. Offprint DLP-141, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, ‘s-Gravenhage; Bibliotheek KITLV accession 0060 4460 60 081470 428.