Niah Cave Research Articles

The ‘cultured rainforests’ of Borneo

Borneo has a 50,000-year record of Homo sapiens' interactions with rainforest on the coastal lowlands assembled especially by the interdisciplinary investigation of the archaeology and palaeoecology of the Niah Caves on the coastal plain of Sarawak (Barker et al., 2007; Barker, 2013). More recent work by many of the same team in the interior of Borneo, in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, has combined those approaches with ethnography and anthropology to investigate recent and present-day, as well as past, human-rainforest interactions. In combination, the two projects indicate that the present-day rainforests of Borneo are the product of a deep ecological history related to both natural factors such as climate change and cultural factors such as how different groups of people chose to extract their livelihoods from the forest, including in ways that do not have simple analogies with the subsistence activities of present-day rainforest foragers and farmers in Borneo.

Deep Skull from Niah Cave and the Pleistocene Peopling of Southeast Asia

The Deep Skull from Niah Cave in Sarawak (Malaysia) is the oldest anatomically modern human recovered from island Southeast Asia. For more than 50 years its relevance to tracing the prehistory of the region has been controversial. The most widely held view, originating with Brothwell’s 1960 description and analysis, is that the Niah individual is related to Indigenous Australians. Here we undertake a new assessment of the Deep Skull and consider its bearing on this question. In doing so, we provide a new and comprehensive description of the cranium including a reassessment of its ontogenetic age, sex, morphology and affinities. We conclude that this individual was most likely to have been of advanced age and female, rather than an adolescent male as originally proposed. The morphological evidence strongly suggests that the Deep Skull samples the earliest modern humans to have settled Borneo, most likely originating on mainland East Asia. We also show that the affinities of the specimen are most likely to be with the contemporary indigenous people of Borneo, although, similarities to the population sometimes referred to as Philippine Negritos cannot be excluded. Finally, our research suggests that the widely supported ‘two-layer’ hypothesis for the Pleistocene peopling of East/South Asia is unlikely to apply to the earliest inhabitants of northern Borneo, in-line with the picture emerging from genetic studies of the contemporary people from the region.

Post-depositional alteration of humid tropical cave sediments: Micromorphological research in the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak, Borneo

The post-depositional alteration of cave sediments is of critical importance for the recognition, identification and investigation of geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence. There have been relatively few studies of tropical cave sediments using micromorphology and this work represents one of the most detailed with 26 samples taken from deposits in the West Mouth of the Great Cave of Niah that cover the last >∼55,000 BP, and contain the earliest known evidence for the remains of modern humans in Southeast Asia. Cave sediments situated in the humid tropics are subject to relatively high temperatures and moisture conditions that promote high rates of chemical alteration and geomorphic change. This paper outlines those post-depositional features that occurred in situ in the West Mouth and include: translocation and concentration; bioturbation; excrement; bone alteration; plant alteration; clast alteration and guano decomposition. It examines their implications for recognising past human activities (e.g. fire-altered materials), the preservation of archaeological remains, the nature of palaeoenvironments and of localised physical and bio-geochemical processes.

Discovery of the Fuyan teeth: challenging or complementing the out-of-Africa scenario?

Discovery of the Fuyan teeth: challenging or complementing the out-of-Africa scenario?

Graeme Barker (ed.). Rainforest foraging and farming in Island Southeast Asia. (The archaeology of the Niah Caves, Sarawak 1). xx+410 pages, 279 colour and b&w illustrations, 60 tables. 2013. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research; 978-1-902937-54-0 hardback £62.

Graeme Barker (ed.). Rainforest foraging and farming in Island Southeast Asia. (The archaeology of the Niah Caves, Sarawak 1). xx+410 pages, 279 colour and b&w illustrations, 60 tables. 2013. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research; 978-1-902937-54-0 hardback £62.

EARLY HOLOCENE BURIAL PRACTICE AT NIAH CAVE, SARAWAK

The West Mouth of Niah Cave, Sarawak, contains one of the largest series of stratified prehistoric burials in Southeast Asia. Initial classification grouped up to 39 burials as ‘Mesolithic’ or pre-Neolithic (B. Harrisson 1967), including ‘flexed’, ‘seated’ and ‘mutilation’ burials, and subsequent radiocarbon dates on human bone produced a date range for these burials of 15,121-5659 cal. BC (Brooks et al. 1977; T. Harrisson 1975). However, due to the technical infancy in dating bone samples at that time, these dates are now generally discredited (Spriggs 1989). In light of renewed investigation of cave stratigraphy and new radiocarbon dates, this paper reviews the classification and date range of early Holocene burials at Niah Cave. The spatial and temporal patterning in burial practice at the site is discussed and compared to the regional data. It is proposed that the commencement of discrete burial in the early Holocene forms a horizon across the Indo-Malay Archipelago which reflects a broad cultural shift in the perception of dead and cultural attitudes to their appropriate treatment, one result of which was the creation of tangible ancestral identities. Early Holocene burial practice was varied both at a local and regional level, including primary as well as secondary burial. One widespread element is the use of fire, either represented as fully cremated remains or physically present within the grave structure itself.

The avian fossil record in Insular Southeast Asia and its implications for avian biogeography and palaeoecology

Excavations and studies of existing collections during the last decades have significantly increased the abundance as well as the diversity of the avian fossil record for Insular Southeast Asia. The avian fossil record covers the Eocene through the Holocene, with the majority of bird fossils Pleistocene in age. Fossil bird skeletal remains represent at least 63 species in 54 genera and 27 families, and two ichnospecies are represented by fossil footprints. Birds of prey, owls and swiftlets are common elements. Extinctions seem to have been few, suggesting continuity of avian lineages since at least the Late Pleistocene, although some shifts in species ranges have occurred in response to climatic change. Similarities between the Late Pleistocene avifaunas of Flores and Java suggest a dispersal route across southern Sundaland. Late Pleistocene assemblages of Niah Cave (Borneo) and Liang Bua (Flores) support the rainforest refugium hypothesis in Southeast Asia as they indicate the persistence of forest cover, at least locally, throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.

13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Selected Papers, Vol. 1: Crossing Borders; Vol. 2: Connecting Empires and States ed. by Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz, Andreas Reinecke & Dominik Bonatz (review)

Reviewed by: 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Selected Papers, Vol. 1: Crossing Borders; Vol. 2: Connecting Empires and States ed. by Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz, Andreas Reinecke & Dominik Bonatz Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abd. Rahman 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, Selected Papers, Vol. 1: Crossing Borders; Vol. 2: Connecting Empires and States Mai Lin Tjoa-bonatz, Andreas Reinecke & Dominik Bonatz (eds) Singapore: NUS Press, 2012. 350 and 392 pp. ISBN 978-9971-69-642-9 (Paperback) and ISBN 978-9971-69-643-6 (Paperback) These two volumes contain 54 papers (25 in the first volume, and 29 in the second) selected from the 168 papers presented at the 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists (EurASEAA) held in Berlin in 2010. The editors of the volumes classified 89 papers as archaeological reports; 36 papers dealing with history, philology and ethnography, and another 43 papers with art and architectural history. Each volume is divided into parts with different themes. Volume 1, Crossing Borders, has four parts: Part 1 contains papers that discuss variability and spread of lithic assemblages; Part 2 focuses on anthropological remains and funerary practices; Part 3 deals with the spread of Neolithic cultures and field agriculture; Part 4 discusses issues on interpretations of the Metal Age remains. Volume 2, Connecting Empires and States, is also divided into 4 parts: Part 1 deals with new insights into the archaeology and history of the Indonesian Archipelago; Part 2 has articles on multi-directional flows of Buddhist art in Southeast Asia; Part 3 contains articles on the art and architecture of the Khmers, centre and periphery; Part 4 has articles on traditions and actions. The contributions in Volume 1 focus on cultural materials with relevant interpretations. However, it is apparent that these interpretations are not in line with current views. For example, the case of Hoabinhian definition: the authors never discuss the fact that researchers in certain countries such as Malaysia no longer use the term Hoabinhian, preferring to use the term epi-Paleolithic. Malaysian researchers do not agree that the origin of the so-called stone artefacts, the so-called Hoabinhian stone tools, was Hoabinh or Bacson, but hold the view that, rather, they were developed in situ. According to their opinion, the stone tools were created to fulfil certain functions out of local genius or local need. Thus, there is no such thing as Hoabinhian in north-western India or anywhere else in the world as expressed in Chapter 2 of the volume. The reviewer agrees, however, that the stone tools help us to understand the importance of plants in the subsistence of the hunter-gatherers in Southeast Asia (in Chapter 3). It deals with the function of stone stools. Chapter 4 is the only article included in the publication that deals with Malaysia; it discusses shell artefacts from Bintulu and Niah Cave in Sarawak. The excavations must have been done by Malaysian, not foreign, archaeologists as advocated in the late 1970s by the Malaysian government. The same policy was adopted by the Indonesian government, but they have not been as strict as the [End Page 109] Malaysian government in implementing the policy. That is why the articles in Part 1 of Volume 2 are written by both Indonesian and foreign archaeologists. On the other hand, papers on art history and architecture and on theories about the peopling of Southeast Asia can be written without having to conduct excavation and fieldwork (Volume 1, Parts I, 3 and 4; Volume 2, Parts 2, 3 and 4). It is the opinion of this reviewer that if all Southeast Asian countries adopted the same policy—not allowing foreigners to do excavations in their countries—more archaeologists from Southeast Asia would be sponsored and invited to attend the conference in order to ensure that subjects discussed in such a conference arranged by the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists reflect accurate and up-to-date accounts of the archaeological findings in Southeast Asia. Scientific analyses of glass beads, cloth and metal objects, teeth and bone help researchers to establish the origin of those products and their cultural...

The West Mouth Neolithic Cemetery, Niah Cave, Sarawak

Excavations between 1954 and 1967 in the West Mouth, Niah Cave (Sarawak) uncovered the largest Neolithic cemetery in South-east Asia with over 150 burials. Subsequent work at the site in the 1970s and most recently by the Niah Caves Project (2000–2004) brought the total to 170, comprising 89 primary burials and 79 secondary burials, and two ‘multiple’ burials. The size of cemetery and the scale of the archaeological data are unprecedented in South-east Asian Neolithic archaeology and offer a unique opportunity to investigate the cemetery's origins, development, and history in detail. Analysis of the demographic structure of discrete spatial burial groups within the cemetery and their short term burial sequences are combined to interpret the history of changing burial practice in terms of different social/settlement groups using the cave as a communal place of burial. A new suite of radiocarbon dates are used to date the West Mouth Neolithic cemetery to between 1500 and 200bc. Six phases of burial are defined and the associated transitions of ritual practices are discussed. In particular, a transition from primary to secondary burial occurred aroundc.1000bc, which subsequently intensified into the practice of cremation. This process was likely associated/fuelled by an intensification of economic activity to support more elaborate secondary burial funerals. Two further cycles of primary and secondary burial followed, before the main cemetery ceasedc.200bc. A Post-Neolithic phase of possibly 14 burials (five primary flexed burials and nine secondary burials) is proposed to follow, which while continuing aspects of Neolithic mortuary behaviour, is considered on isotopic data to represent a group of hunter-gatherers living in a closed-canopy environment

A 48,000 year record of swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae) in North-western Borneo: Morphometric identifications and palaeoenvironmental implications

This paper reports the results of an analysis of 508 sub-fossil carpometacarpi of swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae) recovered during archaeological excavations of the Great Cave of Niah in Sarawak, North-western Borneo. The bones date from 48kyBP (ky BP: 103 calibrated years before present [1950]) to 0.35kyBP and provide a means to consider populations of birds (of which one species is a significant commercial interest) in the context of environmental and climatic change in the past, and their responses to recent anthropogenic landscape changes in the present.Biometric analyses and comparative data indicate that the collection contained specimens attributable to the three extant species of swiftlet that currently inhabit the Great Cave: the black-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus), mossy-nest swiftlet (Aerodramus salanganus) and the white-bellied swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta). A subset of 267 identified specimens provides a time series that suggests that the Great Cave and environs have sustained populations of these three species throughout last 48,000years. While changes in the wing length of extant species of swiftlet are known as a function of geographical and altitudinal range, statistical testing of a single character (greatest length of the carpometacarpus) did not indicate changes in wing length in any of the identified species.The findings indicate that the local environs maintained a sufficient abundance of aerial arthropods to support populations of these obligate insectivores and are consistent with studies that suggest that the structural diversity of forest habitats was maintained throughout the late Pleistocene (48kyBP to 11.6kyBP) and Holocene (11.6kyBP to 0.35kyBP). The findings also provide context for the recent declines of the commercially-significant black-nest swiftlet and suggest that this species may be ill-equipped to adapt to recent anthropogenic deforestation of the Niah area.

Occurrence and morphology of crayback-like stalagmites in the Painted Cave of Niah (Sarawak, Malaysia)

The Painted Cave is a sub-horizontal relict tunnel passage which runs through a small karst tower, approximately 30 m above the surrounding alluvial plain and adjacent to other large karst towers in Niah National Park (Sarawak, Malaysia). Lundberg and McFarlane (Int J Speleol 40(1):39–43, 2011) described the occurrence, morphology and mode of formation of a crayback stalagmite close to the north entrance of the cave. The presence of numerous other crayback-like stalagmites in three zones of the same cave is reported here. Their elongated humped-back morphology indicates formation influenced by cave wind. The axial orientations of the crayback-like stalagmites are similar in each of the three cave zones, but differ between the zones. Many of the stalagmite features resemble those of crayback stalagmites, suggesting that cyanobacteria may also have played a role in their formation. The Painted Cave has large entrances at both ends. The natural light levels within the cave are sufficient for cyanobacterial growth and cave wind is noticeable. A suite of stalagmite morphologies ranging from forms that are wind influenced but abiotic, to forms that are also moderately to strongly influenced by cyanobacteria is suggested.

Instability of response to climate change by tropical lowland forest: evidence from the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak

Instability of response to climate change by tropical lowland forest: evidence from the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak

Local scale, proxy evidence for the presence of closed canopy forest in North-western Borneo in the late Pleistocene: Bones of Strategy I bats from the archaeological record of the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak

The limits of the distribution of closed canopy forest in Southeast Asia during the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene are the subject of continuing debate. In this context, this paper reports the results of an analysis of a novel line of evidence as a local scale case study.22 dated assemblages of bat bones that were recovered from the archaeological sequences of the Great Cave of Niah in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo were examined. By examination of the morphological characteristics of the distal articulation of the humerus, seven families and nine genera were identified. Five species level attributions could be made. These assemblages formed a time series of 14 chronological intervals 48–0.35kyBP (kyBP: 103 calibrated years before present [1950]) incorporating samples from the high glacial interval (26–18kyBP) and Last Glacial Maximum (23–19kyBP).Bones of bat taxa that are adapted to forage in the cluttered environments in the interior of closed canopy forest (“Strategy I” bats) were employed as proxy evidence for the presence of closed canopy forested habitats in the vicinity (<30km radius) of the Great Cave.Bones of Strategy I bats (principally small Hipposideros spp.) were identified in all examined assemblages and intervals in the time series. Statistical testing indicated no evidence of differences in the absolute frequency of distal humeri from Strategy I bats in the Pleistocene samples 48–11.8kyBP, or in the entire time series 48–0.35kyBP and no significant linear trend was found in the time series to suggest an increase of the bones Strategy I bat taxa with the onset of the Holocene. These findings suggest that closed canopy forest habitats have been a persistent component in the landscape around the Great Cave of Niah since 48kyBP. A taphonomic hypothesis is proposed to explain the dichotomy between the findings of this study and the pollen record of the site.

A 50,000-year record of late Pleistocene tropical vegetation and human impact in lowland Borneo

There has been considerable uncertainty about the nature of Pleistocene environments colonised by the first modern humans in Island SE Asia, and about the vegetation of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the region. Here, the palynology from a series of exposures in the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, spanning a period from ca. 52,000 to 5000 BP is described. Vegetation during this period was climate-driven and often highly unstable. Interstadials are marked by lowland forest, sometimes rather dry and at times by mangroves. Stadials are indicated by taxa characteristic of open environments or, as at the LGM, by highly disturbed rather open forest. Stadials are also characterised by taxa now restricted to 1000–1600 m above sea level, suggesting temperature declines of ca 7–9 °C relative to present, by comparison with modern lapse rates. The practice of biomass burning appears associated with the earliest human activity in the cave.

Mammal community structure of Sundanese fossil assemblages from the Late Pleistocene, and a discussion on the ecological effects of the Toba eruption

The mammal community structure of four Sundanese fossil sites from the Late Pleistocene are examined and compared to those of modern communities. Three sites from Indonesia: Punung, Sibrambang and Lida Ajer show a community structure more similar to each other than to modern Sundanese communities. Niah Caves exhibits a structure entirely consistent with modern communities. Taphonomic bias and lower species richness in the Indonesian sites may be the cause of these differences. However, there is reason to believe that the differences observed are at least in part a result of the environmental conditions under which these Late Pleistocene communities formed. If so, they represent an alternative stable state of community structure to that seen in later and modern communities. If this scenario holds, modern community structure in Sundaland would have formed sometime between 128–118 ka and 45–39 ka. These changes could therefore be the result of the Toba eruption, although it seems more likely they stem from environmental fluctuations accompanying glacial/interglacial cycles. Mammal species in Southeast Asia seem particularly resistant to any effects of the Toba eruption. Particular attention is focused on the orangutan, which, despite being in the immediate vicinity of Toba before and after its eruption, appears to have suffered no significant effects. These observations have implications for theories suggesting the Toba eruption resulted in a population bottleneck and altered the course of human evolution.

Foraging-farming transitions at the Niah Caves, Sarawak, Borneo

The Niah Caves in Sarawak, Borneo, have captured evidence for people and economies of 8000 and 4000 years ago. Although not continuous on this site, these open two windows on to life at the cultural turning point, broadly equivalent to the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic. They have much in common, inferring that the occupants, perhaps belonging to an older maritime dispersal, had a choosy appetite for the Neolithic package.

A note on the occurrence of a crayback stalagmite at Niah Caves, Borneo

Joyce Lundberg1 and Donald A. McFarlane2 Figure 1. Location of Niah Caves, Sarawak, Malaysia

New evidence for a 67,000-year-old human presence at Callao Cave, Luzon, Philippines

Documentation of early human migrations through Island Southeast Asia and Wallacea en route to Australia has always been problematic due to a lack of well-dated human skeletal remains. The best known modern humans are from Niah Cave in Borneo (40–42 ka), and from Tabon Cave on the island of Palawan, southwest Philippines (47 ± 11 ka). The discovery of Homo floresiensis on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia has also highlighted the possibilities of identifying new hominin species on islands in the region. Here, we report the discovery of a human third metatarsal from Callao Cave in northern Luzon. Direct dating of the specimen using U-series ablation has provided a minimum age estimate of 66.7 ± 1 ka, making it the oldest known human fossil in the Philippines. Its morphological features, as well as size and shape characteristics, indicate that the Callao metatarsal definitely belongs to the genus Homo. Morphometric analysis of the Callao metatarsal indicates that it has a gracile structure, close to that observed in other small-bodied Homo sapiens. Interestingly, the Callao metatarsal also falls within the morphological and size ranges of Homo habilis and H. floresiensis. Identifying whether the metatarsal represents the earliest record of H. sapiens so far recorded anywhere east of Wallace’s Line requires further archaeological research, but its presence on the isolated island of Luzon over 65,000 years ago further demonstrates the abilities of humans to make open ocean crossings in the Late Pleistocene.

Analytical examination of animal remains from Borneo: the painting of bone and shell

Examination of a selection of shell and bone from archaeological assemblages excavated at Niah Cave and Gua Sireh, both of which are located in Sarawak, Borneo, has revealed the deliberate application of coloured material to one or more surfaces. Small fragments of the surface colourant were analysed using a variety of techniques, including microscopy, energy dispersive microwave analysis and infra-red spectrophotometry. These procedures established that, although red in colour, the applied coating in each instance was not red iron oxide. It is suggested that, based on the chemical components present, this coating was a tree resin or a similar organic substance. The paper further reports the presence of enhanced chloride values in the colourant recovered from the ancient human cranial fragment tested. It is suggested that elevated concentrations of this trace element may indicate that the site, the human remains or ingredients within the colourant were once in close proximity to the sea.

Disentangling the Harrisson archive to interpret the spatial and temporal distribution of vertebrate remains at Niah Caves, Sarawak

AbstractDuring the 1950s and 1960s, excavations by the Sarawak Museum at Niah Cave in northwest Borneo produced an enormous archive of records and artefacts, including in excess of 750,000 macro‐ and micro‐vertebrate remains. The excellent state of preservation of the animal bone, dating from the Late Pleistocene (c. 40 kya) to as recently as c. 500 years ago had the potential to provide unparalleled zooarchaeological information about early hunter‐gatherer resource procurement, temporal changes in subsistence patterning, and the impact of peoples on the local and regional environment in Island Southeast Asia. However, the coarse‐grained methods of excavation employed during the original investigations and the sheer scale of the archaeological record and bone assemblages dissuaded many researchers from attempting to tackle the Niah archives. This paper outlines how important information on the nature of the archaeological record at Niah has now finally been extracted from the archive using a combination of zooarchaeological analysis and reference to the extensive archaeological records from the site. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.