More investigations need to be done in Mulu as a World Heritage Site

Sarawak Museum and USM are encouraged to conduct more investigations in Mulu Cave so that its status as a World Heritage Site can be greatly enhanced.

The Ministry of Tourism and Heritage and Sarawak Museum should also explore the possibility of nominating Niah Cave as a World Heritage site for cultural and natural unique features. The finding should be able to enhance the status of Niah as a National Park and a boost to Sarawak in terms of cultural and natural unique features.

Sarawak, which is about 98% of the size of Peninsular Malaysia, is the largest state in the country. It is well-endowed with natural resources and thus more renowned for her oil, gas, timber and vast potential of hydro-electric power. Sarawak, also known as “Land of the Hornbills”, has a rich and unique natural and cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. The environment in rural areas is still quite well preserved; it is still original in nature.  The rivers are still flowing without much chemical. We do not have acid rain or any other environmental problems.  

Not far from Miri, the second largest city with a population of more than 300,000, in Sarawak, of about 25 minutes by plane, is the Mulu National Park, a UNESCO Heritage Site and famous for its spectacular cave formations, primary forest and wildlife. Closer to Miri, slightly over two hours by car, is the Niah Cave, an important archaeological site which all archaeologists, who are doing research in the region should be familiar with, even if only through literature and have yet to visit it.

The development of archaeological research in Sarawak is closely inter-twined with the establishment and growth of the Sarawak Museum. The Sarawak Museum, established in 1886, is the oldest museum in Borneo but the second in Malaysia after the Taiping Museum in Perak. Apart from displaying ethnographic and zoological specimens, the Sarawak Museum then also conducted scientific research, especially in natural history (zoology, botany) and ethnography as most of its early curators (e.g. Havilland, Bartlett and Shelford; Banks for ethnography as well) were trained or interested in these fields. Prior to this, the international scientific interest was the quest for the ‘missing link’ as Alfred Wallace visited Sarawak from 1854 to 1855 upon the invitation of James Brooke and followed later in 1869 by A.H. Everett  and then by Charles Hose in 1884.

Santubong sites

Formal archaeological research in Sarawak only started after the Second World War when Tom Harrisson was appointed the curator of Sarawak Museum in 1947. Being untrained himself, he invited Michael Tweedie, Director of the Raffles Museum in Singapore to train some locals (mainly Malays from Kuching) basic excavation techniques. The training site chosen was at Gua Bungoh in Bau. In 1966, he excavated at Santubong, where stray artefacts had long been reported and discovered since the arrival of James Brooke, with Stanley O’Connor from the University of Cornell. 

Based on the archaeological evidence (ceramics, coins, beads, iron objects, religious relics and stone engravings) the Santubong sites played an important role in ancient maritime trade links between the Middle East, India, Malay Peninsular, Southeast Asia and China. The ‘candi’ structure discovered at Bongkissam showed connection with south India while Santubong overall possibly featured as part of the Srivijaya Empire as well.

On account of their archaeological significance I would like to ask the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage and the Sarawak Museum to declare the proto-historic sites of Santubong as Historical Sites or Monuments under the provisions of the Sarawak Cultural Heritage Ordinance 1993. A recent survey conducted in April 2010 revealed the presence of engravings on some rockboulders located around the peninsula where Batu Buaya is located. The Santubong sites need to be re-investigated and should be conserved and developed as attractions for the nearby resorts and Sarawak as a whole.

Niah Caves

From 1949 to 1967, attention was focused on the Niah Caves where Barbara Harrisson was the main supervisor, Wilhem Solheim from the University ofHawaii studied the pottery and later Lord Medway from United Kingdom (now Earl of Cranbrook and Dato Sri) analysed the bone and shell remains. In those early days in order to go to Niah, it required a week of sailing from Kuching to Miri by a cargo ship and a few more days from Miri by motor launch to reach Niah.  To inspect the caves would entail several hours or days as accessibility was difficult in the thick jungle and rough terrain. Today, from Kuching one could fly for an hour or half a day by car to Miri and then within four hours could reach the caves by car.

At the start of the excavation, the Sarawak Shell company apart from providing geological services also helped by giving complimentary drums of fuel for the sea trip and use during the fieldwork. Excess fuel was sometimes exchanged for provisions and other needs as travelling allowance was negligible duringthat time. It is thus heartening to see that Sarawak Shell, and recently PETRONAS, continue to assist in academic or community services as evidenced by their generous contribution towards the construction of the Petroleum Museum Miri, scholarship awards to deserving students and safety traffic games.   Thank you to Sarawak Shell and PETRONAS. I would like to urge big corporations in Sarawak to emulate the example of Shell and PETRONAS by contributing generously towards academic and research causes and the conservation and development of heritage of the state.

The holding of this archaeological seminar in Miri is appropriate and seemingly as an acknowledgement of a very important discovery made slightly five decades ago. The discovery of the cranium of homo sapiens i.e. modern man in 1958 put the Niah Caves on the pale-anthropological map as it was dated to 40,000 years old, the earliest of such find in the world then. Thus it was hotly debated by renowned physical anthropologists where some doubted its antiquity and even its contextual location (e.g. Peter Bellwood and Johan Kamingga of the Australian National University and Wolpoff). The proponents (Koenigswald, Brothwell, Kennedy, Birdsell, Krigbaum) diligently analysed the find and came with some interesting features.  The individual, initially referred to as the Niah Man, had been identified as belonging to a young adult female, probably in her early 20s and of short stature i.e. 4.5 feet tall and of Australo-Melanesian morphology (the closest modern race would be the Tasmanian).

 

Recent research by the Niah Cave Project 2000-2003 (NCP) headed by Professor Graeme Barker of Cambridge University has confirmed the dating of the Niah Deep Skull to 42,000 years ago. Thus the dispute about its antiquity is finally put to rest. The NCP is currently finalising a comprehensive report for publication on the Niah Caves. Due to its significance, I would like the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage and the Sarawak Museum to explore the possibility of nominating the Niah Caves as a World Heritage Site for cultural or cultural and natural unique features. This would surely enhance the status of the Niah National Park and be a boost to Sarawak in particular and Malaysia as a whole; apart from the Mulu National Park and the Kinabalu National Park as far as Borneo is concerned.

More than 200 skeletons were excavated from the West Mouth, Niah Cave between 1957 and 1967. 122 of them were shipped in 1965 and 1966 to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to be studied by Richard and Sheilagh Brooks.Though they have prepared some reports on the burials none has been published. Professor Zuraina Majid last inspected them in 2004. As the Brooks are elderly and no longer able to conduct research on the burials I would like to propose that the burials, or some of them, be brought back to Sarawak. The Centre for Global Archaeological Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM),Penang had brought back the Gua Cha (Kelantan) burials from Cambridge University in 2008.

 However, before the Niah burials could be taken back Sarawak Museum must build a special room with specially designed curation boxes to meet appropriate standards of storage and preservation. The   proposed place for this is at the left wing of the Petroleum Museum in Miri which could be designed and prepared with assistance of the USM staff. The burials being the heritage of Sarawak and Malaysia should be brought home and thus be easily accessible to researchers for further study and analysis. (The estimated cost for the whole project is around RM1.5 million i.e. initial investigation trips to Las Vegas, air freight and airfares and construction of special curation room and facilities).

In 2008 and 2009, USM and SM excavated at the lower level of the Painted Cave (Kain Hitam), Niah and found 8 Neolithic burials with stone tools and shell beads dated between 2300 to 1050 BP. These finds by local researchers have added information regarding mortuary tradition of the early inhabitants of the region. I understand the excavation site will be visited by the seminar participants on 31 October. Some of you who visit the Niah Caves for the first time are fortunate to see the awesome geological features and the traditional climbing tools of the birds’-nest collectors.

Lubang Angin, Mulu National Park

In 1989, the Sarawak Museum excavated at the smaller opening of Lubang Angin where human burials of Metal Age (3000 to 500 years ago) were found together with pottery, shells and beads. The pottery types include double-spouted vessels and three-colour ware which prior to this were discovered only at Niah Cave. Harrisson had said the double-spouts seemed to be confined to within a 15-mile radius of the Niah Cave complex as he could not find them elsewhere. I would encourage the Sarawak Museum and USM to conduct more investigations in Mulu so that its status as a World Heritage Site would be greatly enhanced. Recent excavations in the interior caves of Kalimantan Tengah had reported of finding double-spouts and three-colour ware there.

Cultural sites

Studies by the Sarawak Museum, International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and the Cultured Rainforest Project (CRF) in the Bario Highland reveal the presence of numerous cultural sites of varying formations. These include menhirs, dolmen, stone mounds, stone urns, burial caves, rock engravings and ditches. Dating samples obtained from one stone mound at Long Kelit, Pa Dalih by CRF indicate that the megalithic activity was conducted about 600 to 500years ago.  Sarah Hitchner, an American researcher stated that Bario which is about 2500km2 in size has more than 540 cultural sites. It is thus among the most densely concentrated area in term of cultural sites distribution in the region.

Similar sites are also found in Kalimantan Timor while a few are located in Lawas and Long Pasia in Sabah. The sites which are remnants of old mortuary tradition are comparable to the ‘stonehenge’ of England and thus if properly preserved and developed should be very appealing to the adventurous visitors. The local communities (the Kelabit and the Lun Bawang) are therefore urged to help in their preservation and development as eco-tourism attractions and should be promoted as part of home-stay programmes.

The Sarawak Museum and USM are also currently carrying out research on thedefunct tradition of making earthen crocodile effigies among the Iban and Lun Bawang. The Iban made them as part of their mali umai (getting rid of padi pests ritual) during hill padi cultivation and masi menoa (asking for protection against calamities). It was abandoned when modern pesticide was introduced and after they converted to Christianity.

The known sites stretched from Gedong, Samarahan, Saratok, Ruban, Skrang, Mujong, Selangau, Kanowit, Ngemah to Ulu Putai, Baleh. The Lun Bawang made them as part of the nuwiulung (headhunting ritual) ceremony and as boundary markers. The practice ceased when headhunting was banned and they embraced Christianity. The sites are in Lawas Damit, Long Sukang, Long Semadoh and Ba’ Kelalan. Likewise, the communities concerned are requested to protect the effigies for if properly developed they could also attract visitors.

Today, due to availability of telephone, ICT and internet services, one can send message or communicate instantaneously and receive a reply a few minutes later. This is unlike the old days when writing a letter was the norm and it took weeks to get a reply. Thus, researchers today should capitalise on this facility and keep in contact with each other to share finding and ideas. However, it is always better to occasionally meet face to face to discuss issues and share thought for the advancement of academic pursuits. This would result in a clearer and complete picture of the past heritage of the human race that used to inhabit and roam the Malay Archipelago. So I strongly recommend that this seminar be held on regular basis among the Bornean states.

The Sarawak Museum used to be the only institution which had reference materials or expertise for researchers to rely on. Today, there are other institutions which have comparable research materials like the Pustaka Negeri Sarawak and six universities, like UMINAS, Curtin and Swinburne which offer research and technical courses. But none of these universities sadly offer archaeology courses yet. This could be because one has to apply for an excavation permit from the Sarawak Museum or that the subject is not popular or limited in career prospects. In other countries, like Thailand and Indonesia, archaeologists can get good income by becoming professional guides or consultants.

The task of conducting archaeological research in Sarawak still falls back to the Sarawak Museum. Considering the size of Sarawak, I think this is a tall order as there is only one archaeologist and one assistant curator to do the job. Thus, of late most of the studies have been done in collaboration with other institutions, like USM. The same also goes to other sections, like zoology, ethnology, history, archive and conservation. In this connection, perhaps Sarawak Museum could submit a proposal on organisational restructure with a view to beef up the research sections, including archaeology.

It is said that the strong forte of a museum is its collection. The Sarawak Museum is fortunate to have a comprehensive and wide range of collection on Sarawak in particular and Borneo in general. These include archaeological items (pottery, beads, metal objects, stones, bones and shells from Niah and Santubong); natural history specimens (insects, mammals, reptiles and invertebrae) easily over 100 years old; ethnographic items (basketry, sculptures, costumes, textiles, brass, ceramics and weapons) and archival materials. To study these scientific gems would take several man years, possibly in the hundreds to complete.

Having a good collection is one thing but having a proper and sufficient storage space for them is another matter. As such, I would like to assure the Sarawak Museum that its request for a proper collection centre will be given due consideration so that this important heritage of Sarawak will be better preserved, catalogued and be more accessible to researchers from within and outside Sarawak.

From the above account, it is obvious that the archaeological findings from Sarawak and the much older evidence of human occupation from other sites in Malaysia; e.g. Bukit Jawa in Perak (200,000 years ago) and the Lahad Datu Mansuli open site (also 200,000 years ago), and the other sites you will be discussing in this seminar, clearly show that contrary to earlier opinion Borneo or Malaysia were not in the backwaters of prehistory in the region but possess a long and ancient tradition of human story and cultural development comparable to other parts of the world.

benuasains

*Photos Source: google.com images