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29-652: Niah National Park , located within Miri Division , Sarawak , Malaysia , is the site of the Niah Caves which are an archeological site. Alfred Russel Wallace lived for 8 months at Simunjan District with a mining engineer, Robert Coulson, who had explored what is now northern Sarawak for mineral ores. Coulson later wrote to Wallace about finding bones in a number of caves in Sarawak. On further enquiry, Wallace learned that one cave in question "was situated in

58-620: A cluster analysis of MMD values in order to test existing hypotheses of origins, concluding that all Southeast Asians, Micronesians , Polynesians , and Jomonese form their own branch and descend from a common ancestor. The Australians and Melanesians, however, are scattered over the African and European branch along with a side branch of Tasmanians and Solomon Islanders . Howell analyzed crania of major racial branches worldwide, and linked Australian and Melanesian cranial morphology most closely with African cranials. Howell discovered, however, that

87-400: A female in her late teens to mid-twenties. Near the skull, a complete left femur and right proximal tibia were found which belonged to the same individual. Tom Harrisson also discovered Neolithic burial sites from 2,500 to 5,000 years ago. The discoveries led to more expeditions in 1959, 1965, and 1972. The area was gazetted as "National Historic Monument" in 1958. On 23 November 1974, the area

116-815: A much earlier date for stone tools found in the Mansuli valley, near Lahad Datu in Sabah , but a precise dating analysis has yet to be published. Items found at the Niah Cave include Pleistocene chopping tools and flakes, Neolithic axes, adzes, pottery, shell jewellery, boats, mats, then iron tools, ceramics and glass beads dating to the Iron Age . The most famous find is the human skull dated at around 38,000 years BCE. Painted Cave has paintings and wooden coffin 'death ships'. Between 1954 and 1966, approximately 750,000 fragments of animal bones were excavated here. One of them

145-584: A southern route, with the Australo-Melanesians using a coastal route along the coast of the Indian peninsula into Insular Southeast Asia and Oceania , while East Asian-related groups used a route south or through the Himalayan mountain range into Mainland Southeast Asia , from where Basal-East Asians than expanded northwards and southwards respectively at 50,000BC. East Asian-related ancestry

174-529: A year (usually in January and in June). The collector climbs up hundreds of feet on a single pole to the cave ceiling and scrapes off the nest in flickering candlelight. Miri Division Miri Division is one of the twelve administrative divisions of Sarawak , Malaysia . It has a total area of 26,777.1 square kilometres, and is the second largest division after Kapit Division . The seat of this division

203-524: Is located on the northern edge of a limestone mountain named Gunung Subis (Mount Subis). The entrance is located at the west mouth of the cave. The location is 15 km from the South China Sea and 50 m above sea level. The west mouth of the Niah Caves is 150 m wide and 75 m high. The cave is an important prehistorical site where human remains from 40,000 years ago have been found. This is

232-493: Is more closely resembling the indigenous people of Borneo rather than Tasmanians or the two layer hypothesis which stated that original population of Southeast Asia were emigrated from Australia and later integrated with people from China. In 2010 and 2021, the Sarawak state government nominated the park for a UNESCO 's World Heritage Site title. It was included in the list on 27 July 2024. In 2020, all 122 pieces of Niah human remains were returned to Sarawak. The Niah Caves

261-421: Is the city of Miri . Miri Division consists of two districts: Miri and Marudi . Of the 21 seismic events that happened in Sarawak from 1874 to 2011, the majority of them occurred between Niah and Selangau regions, which corresponds to Miri and Bintulu Divisions with Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MMI) of 3.5 to 5.3 magnitude. The population of Miri Division (year 2000 census) was 316,400. Ethnically,

290-470: Is timber processing from Miri's huge tropical rainforest . Processed wood products, rather than log export has been given priority by the government. Agriculture is includes oil palm , rubber , and pepper as the main products. Tourism, particularly ecotourism , is a growing component of the economy. Two layer hypothesis Recent genetic and archeologic evidence found that both Australo-Melanesian and East Asian-related populations migrated along

319-523: The Paleolithic era. The expedition team led by Barbara Harrisson discovered the "Deep Skull" in the "Hell Trench" (named for its unusually hot condition) at 101 to 110 inches below surface in February 1958. It is a partial skull with maxilla , two molar teeth and a portion of the base of the skull. The skull is highly fragile and is not fossilised. The morphology of the skull suggests it belonged to

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348-443: The 'Two Layer' hypothesis is whether or not the evolutionary process truly involved the Australo-Melanesians. Archaeologists such as Matsumura suggest Southern Chinese people comprised the initial population of Southeast Asia, rather than Australo-Melanesians while researchers such as Turner argue that prehistoric Southeast Asians did not mix with either racial group. Though the early prehistoric Vietnamese and Malaysians both resembled

377-568: The 1950s, Tom Harrisson , the curator of Sarawak State Museum was searching for evidence of ancient human activity in Sarawak. He came across Niah Cave, which showed no evidence of ancient human activity in the area. However, he inferred that since the cave was cool and dry and there were millions of bats and swiflets which could be used as food, ancient humans could have lived in the cave. Therefore, in October 1954, Harrisson with his two friends, Michael Tweedie and Hugh Gibb spent two weeks examining

406-736: The Australo-Melanesian samples the most, the Mán Bạc people had a greater resemblance to the Đông Sơn samples dating back to the Iron Age . Analyzing cranial and dental remains, Matsumura concluded based on chronological differences that the Mán Bạc people were immigrants affiliated with peoples near the Yangtze River region in Southern China. Molecular anthropologists have used classical genetic markers and mtDNA to analyze

435-542: The Niah Cave Project found out that the ancient humans living in the Niah Caves probably used mammal and fish trapping technologies, projectile technology, tuber digging, plant detoxification, and forest burning. In 2013 to 2014, uranium–thorium dating also confirmed the age of the skull. In 2016, further research done by Darren Curnoe noted that the Deep Skull was more resembling of a female adolescent and

464-483: The Niah. They found evidence of long term human occupation, habitation, and burial. In 1957, the Sarawak museum organised a larger expedition with transport and equipment from Brunei Shell Petroleum and Sarawak Oilfields Ltd (Shell). Earthernware, shell scrapers, shell ornaments, stone pounders, bone tools, and food remains were found. Radiocarbon dating of the charcoal layers put the site at 40,000 years old, dating back to

493-561: The Papuan-related and East Asian-related branches of the Eastern non-African lineage. The hunter-gatherer individual had approximately ~50% "Basal-East Asian" ancestry, and was positioned in between modern East Asians and Papuans of Oceania. The authors concluded that East Asian-related ancestry expanded from Mainland Southeast Asia into Maritime Southeast Asia much earlier than previously suggested, as early as 25,000BC, long before

522-565: The district between Sarawak and Bruni ( Brunei ), on a mountain some distance inland." In March 1864, Wallace favoured Coulson to explore the caves. However, later in May 1864, G. J. Ricketts, a British Consul to Sarawak was appointed to undertake the work. Ricketts did not remain in the post for long and subsequently Alfred Hart Everett was chosen to undertake the work. Everett surveyed 32 caves in three areas, including Niah/Subis (near Miri ) and "Upper Sarawak Proper" (south of Kuching, at Bau ). In

551-612: The expansion of Austroasiatic and Austronesian groups. Distinctive Basal-East Asian (East-Eurasian) ancestry was recently found to have originated in Mainland Southeast Asia at ~50,000BC, and expanded through multiple migration waves southwards and northwards respectively. Geneflow of East-Eurasian ancestry into Maritime Southeast Asia and Oceania could be estimated to ~25,000BC (possibly also earlier since 50,000BC). The pre-Neolithic Papuan-related populations of Maritime Southeast Asia were largely replaced by

580-584: The majority displaying robust jaws and teeth, prominent glabellae , and slender, elongated limbs. Teuku argued these characteristics correspond to the Australo-Melanesian population proposed by Koenigswald that predated the East Asian immigrants of the Neolithic; also suggesting the initial inhabitants were likely forced south of Southeast Asia's mainland by the second wave of migrants, due to resource competition or conflict. The main controversy concerning

609-523: The oldest recorded human settlement in East Malaysia . More recent studies published in 2006 have shown evidence of the first human activity at the Niah caves from ca. 46,000 to 34,000 years ago. Painted Cave, situated in a much smaller limestone block of its own, some 150 metres from the Great Cave block's south eastern tip, has rock paintings dated as 1,200 years old. Archeologists have claimed

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638-441: The population was Iban , Chinese , Malay (mostly Bruneian and Kedayan ), Melanau , Kayan , Kenyah , Lun Bawang and Kelabit . Due to the petroleum industry, there is also a large foreign worker population. The economy is largely based on petroleum and natural gas extraction from both onshore and offshore wells, and related petroleum refining , liquefied natural gas and chemical production. Another major industry

667-440: The similarities between early Chinese and Southeast Asians. Such genetic markers suggest the genetic layout of Southern Chinese peoples is quite similar to that of Southeast Asians. Other controversies completely reject the 'Two Layer' hypothesis. Using dental evidence, Turner’s Sundadont/Sinodont hypothesis suggests the “Sundadont” trait seen in present-day Southeast Asians is a result of long-standing continuity. Turner created

696-665: The size and features of present-day Asian cranial morphology differed significantly from that of Australians, Melanesians, and Africans. Several studies in 2021 concluded that East Asian-related ancestry originated and expanded from Mainland Southeast Asia at about 50,000BC. East Asian-related ancestry was far more widespreaded in Southeast Asia than previously suggested. Ancient remains of hunter-gatherers in Maritime Southeast Asia, such as one Holocene hunter-gatherer from South Sulawesi , had ancestry from both

725-420: Was conducted by University of Leicester , in collaboration with other universities from Britain, Australia, United States and Sarawak State Museum from 2000 to 2003 to establish a more detailed history of the Niah Caves. It was known as the "Niah Cave Project". Another dating of the charcoal and the Deep Skull itself was done in 2000. It showed the age of the skeleton to be 37,000 years old. In 2006, studies from

754-590: Was far more widespread in Insular Southeast Asia than previously suggested, long predating the Austroasiatic and Austronesian expansions. The first fossilized skeletal remains and indication of early 'Proto-Australian' Southeast Asian inhabitants surfaced in 1920 during an excavation by Dubois on the island of Java . Despite this, a formal connection to mainland Southeast Asia and the suggestion of an initial population of Australomelanesoids

783-479: Was gazetted as a national park. The national park was opened to the public on 1 January 1975. In 1960, Don Brothwell concluded that the Deep Skull belonged to an adolescent male who may be closely related to an indigenous Australian from Tasmania . In the 1960s, 122 human remains from Niah were brought to Nevada , United States. There is a lack of paleogeography , stratigraphy , and archeological relationships to support Tom Harrisson's work. Therefore, more fieldwork

812-399: Was identified as a metacarpal bone of a young tiger . Pearce (2004) recognises six vegetation types: The caves are also well known for the bird's nest industry. They are a popular tourist destination in Sarawak. Every section of the ceiling in the caves where there are swiftlets roosting is privately owned and only the owner has the right to collect the nests. Collection is done twice

841-493: Was not suggested until 1952 by Koenigswald in his response to Hooijer, who sharply criticized the attribution of 'big toothed' dental remains to early Australo-Melanesians. The immigration hypothesis proposed by Koenigswald was formally termed the 'Two Layer' model by Jacob Teuku. In 1967, Teuku analyzed the cranial and dental proportions of 152 adult skeletal samples recovered from prehistoric sites in Malaysia and Indonesia ,

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