Ethnomatematics in Majapahit's Culture: Geometry Concepts and Pedagogy Reviews in the Life of Mlaten Trowulan Villagers

Abstract

This study examines the elements of culture, especially the manufacture of pottery of Mlaten Trowulan, East Java Indonesia. It can be used to review the mindset of the Majapahit tribe from the point of view about the pottery artisans show how to make make the pottery to the next generation craftsmen. This research is a qualitative research with ethnography method. The results showed that there are 25 types of pottery which has a symmetrical geometric shape. The artisans show how to make the pottery to the elementary school student with some techniques, such as rotating, plating, pushing, and twisting. All techniques have been taught by learning by doing method. The symmetrical pottery model can be obtained from rotating a function f against the x-axis. The function f is obtained from a three-point cubic interpolation with its midpoint as the peak point. In order to develop another pottery model, another transformation function can be used.