The Pottery Technology from Bukit Tengkorak, a 3000-5000 Year Old Site in Borneo, Malaysia
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269 Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 462 ©1997 Materials Research Society
On or near the top of Bukit Tengkorak are three main rock shelters, the highest located about 600 feet above sea level. These shelters are formed by andesite boulders lying just below the summit of an eroded volcanic crater, a remnant of early Pleistocene Recent geomorphological studies conducted by the age activity. Malaysian State Geological Department confirmed that the crater However, it is not remnant was once an island just of the coast. yet known whether at the time of occupation between 5300 and 2000 years ago, the crater remnant was an island or near the end of a Today it lies promontory of raised coral limestone and alluvium. close to the Sulawesi Sea, separated only by a drained mangrove When the rock shelters were discovered, swamp about one km. wide. The the floors were strewn with pottery sherds, bones and shell. high densities reflect the washing or blowing cut of soil matrix as well as
recent disturbances.
However,
the very high density of
marine shells and fish bones in the archaeological layers indicates Today, the many that the inhabitants had easy access to the sea. provide an important coral reefs with rich marine resources still means of livelihood for local fishermen as well as the sea nomads, the Bajau Laut. The ecological, geomorphological and archaeological evidence thus far suggests that the site has been used in prehistoric times as a Neolithic pottery making site and stone tool producing site by It is the only candidate as a pottery marine-adapted people(s). producing site in Island Southeast Asia, and further excavation and Beyond the analysis may determine whether it is a major one. significance of this site as an early site with pottery or as a possible pottery production site loom larger questions requiring region-wide empirical data, as framed by H.E. Terrell, of whether the introduction of pottery implies one or more migrations of people(s), the introduction or importation of a technology, or the indigenous development of a technology and eventually an attendant, distinctive decorative style, called Lapita (3), or a combination of the above. Lapita style involves a handmade ware, low-fired, with a red-slipped surface that has a stamped or dentate pattern that is often post-fire infilled with a white material, often Many of the more elaborate described as ground coral powder. patterns are stylized faces or heads considered to be reminiscent of later Oceanic tattooing, bark cloth or wood decoration. This study is attempts to add one block of technical data on pottery production technology that is specific in time and space. In Southwest Asia, similarities in Neolithic manufacturing technology, called sequential slab construction, underly fairly styles (4). in decorative frequent and regional variation Similarity of Neolithic pottery manufacturing technology from Egypt and Turkey to Pakistan from 7000 to 3000 B.C.E. imply interaction and long distance communication, as well as considerable temporal The dif
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