Sangiran site is one of the early human sites in Indonesia. The Sangiran site is located in two regencies in Central Java Province, namely Sragen and Karanganyar Regencies, with an area of 59.21 square kilometers. This site is managed by the Sangiran Early Human Site Preservation Center (BPSMP), a technical implementation unit (UPT) of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud).
The Sangiran Museum, located in the Sangiran Site area, is divided into five clusters. The first cluster is the Krikilan Cluster which functions as a visitor center, which provides complete information about the Sangiran Site. Then there are the Dayu Cluster, Bukuran Cluster, Ngebung Cluster, and Manyarejo Museum. This site is open Tuesday through Sunday, 08.00 to 16.00 WIB. Visitors are only charged a ticket price of Rp. 5,000 per person to be able to enjoy educational tours at this early human site. Like other museums, the Sangiran Site is closed on Mondays for the cleaning and collection maintenance process.
Currently the Sangiran Site is not only known in Indonesia, but also internationally as a site that is able to contribute important knowledge regarding evidence of human evolution (physical changes), the evolution of fauna, culture and the environment, which occurred two million years ago. Due to its values, the Sangiran Site has been designated a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. UNESCO designated the Sangiran Site as a World Cultural Heritage No. 593 in 1996 under the name The Sangiran Early Man Site.
The name Sangiran Site became known since a Dutch researcher named Von Koenigswald conducted research in 1934. At that time Von Koenigswald found stone tools resulting from early human culture during his research at the Sangiran Site. Furthermore, in 1936 the first early human fossils were discovered at the Sangiran Site. After that, year after year more and more research was carried out in Sangiran which resulted in various findings, both in the form of human fossils, animal fossils, bone tools and stone tools.
Hearing the name of the Sangiran Site, maybe what comes to our mind is “fossils and fossils”. However, the archaeological wealth that exists at the Sangiran Site is not only fossils, but also stone tools resulting from ancient human culture as well as ancient soil layers which can show changes in the natural environment from two million years ago until now without interruption.
The Sangiran site and all the archaeological content contained therein is a cultural heritage that is important to be protected and preserved. Preservation of the Sangiran Site is important so that all the important values contained in it can be studied, utilized, and passed on to future generations. Currently the management of the Sangiran Site is carried out by one of the UPTs of the Ministry of Education and Culture, namely the Sangiran Early Human Site Preservation Center (BPSMP), in collaboration with the Central Java Provincial Government, Sragen Regency Government, and the Karanganyar Regency Government.
Efforts to preserve the Sangiran Site continue to be carried out in various ways, namely by holding workshops, outreach, and giving rewards to community members who find fossils and submit their findings to the Sangiran BPSMP. These efforts continue to be carried out intensively to make people aware of the importance of fossils for science. In addition, there are also research activities that are still being carried out, traveling exhibitions in several cities every year, mobile cinemas, book/journal production, fossil conservation, and others. These activities have been budgeted annually, so that currently they can suppress illicit sales and fossil-finding activities by the public.