The highlands of Sumatra remain one of the most neglected regions of insular Southeast Asia in terms of history and archaeology. No comprehensive research program incorporating both a survey and excavations within a defined geographical or environmental zone has been carried out there since Van der Hoop (1932) conducted his study of the megaliths on the Pasemah plateau in the 1930s. Meanwhile, Van der Hoop’s investigations and several other archaeological research activities at places such as northwest Lampung (McKinnon 1993), Pasemah (Sukendar and Sukidjo 1983-84; Caldwell 1997; Kusumawati and Sukendar 2000), Kerinci (Laporan 1995a, 1996a), and the Minangkabau heartland (Miksic 1986, 1987, 2004) have placed special emphasis on the megalithic remains. As a result, the megaliths are by far the bestknown archaeological attraction of the Sumatran highlands.

Nine terracotta bricks and brick fragments, containing incised drawings of different types of buildings, were discovered at the large Muara Jambi temple complex in eastern Sumatra. Likely dating from between the second half of the ninth and the first half of the fourteenth centuries, these bricks contain the oldest graphic representations of Sumatran architecture. While two of these designs have been previously published, the brick images have not been thoroughly analyzed in order to determine what new light they shed on the domestic architecture and building traditions of early lowland Sumatran settlements. To address this lacuna, we analyze the bricks and their archaeological context in order to interpret when the images were made, who created the images, the purpose behind them, the types of architecture depicted on the bricks, and the reasons behind the diversity of building types represented. Having argued that the majority of bricks shows domestic architecture reflecting a variety of cultural influences, we conclude by suggesting that the presence of such images supports the scholarly view that Muara Jambi was a multiethnic trading community.

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