Bali with unique communities and cultures is certainly not a new migration region. Balinese daily life with a culture that always displays the color of local culture shows that the journey of Bali has passed a long history. Various archaeological finds in various areas of Bali prove the long journey of Bali along with other regions and countries.
As with other regions of the archipelago, the early days of community life in Bali are classified as prehistoric times. In this prehistoric era, there are no records that describe the social order of life. The reference is the findings of various tools used as a means of sustaining the survival of Balinese humans at that time.
From these prehistoric findings, the prehistoric Balinese era – as with most other regions – includes three stages of cultural level. The first layer is a life span of hunting culture. Naturally, hunting is a very clear and easy way to maintain survival. With simple stone tools, the remains of which are found in the Sembiran area of northern Bali and the Batur region, Balinese humans are expected to survive. Better relics of similar equipment, using bone material, are also found in the Selonding cave in Bulit, South Badung. This shows that the period of hunting over long periods is accompanied by an improvement in the mindset that is getting better.
Still based on the findings of ancient objects, illustrated that Bali began to leave the hunting period and enter at the time of planting. Although it has entered a more patterned lifestyle at the time of planting, the group of Balinese people at that time certainly live on the move. Various relics are found as loose finds in various areas of western Bali, northern Bali, and southern Bali. The living arrangements with settlements are believed to be the transition of the Balinese life order from prehistoric times to historical times. Ancient relics of bronze nekara and various items of metal material in the area Pejeng Gianyar, proved that at that time has formed the structure of society more structured.
Simultaneously with the transition of pre-historic times into historical times, Hindu influences from India entering Indonesia are thought to give a strong impetus to the cultural jump in Bali. This transitional period, commonly referred to as the ancient Balinese period between the 8th and 13th centuries, is clearly changed again by the influence of Majapahit intending to unite the Archipelago through the Palapa Gajah Mada Oath in the early 13th century. The governmental order and the structure of society have adjusted to follow the pattern Majapahit government. The local culture of Balinese culture and the Javanese Hindu culture of Majapahit in the form of Balinese rejection gave rise to various resistance in various regions of Bali. Slowly and steadily, with the effort of adjusting and blending both sides, Bali managed to find a cultural pattern that suits the mindset of society and the nature of Bali.
This model of adjustment would then shape the Balinese society and culture inherited now to be unique and distinctive, absorbing Hindu and Javanese elements of Majapahit but thick with local color.
The pattern of Balinese cultural development in the subsequent periods, the colonial period and the time of independence, naturally follows the same path of accepting outside influences that melt into the color of local culture.
