A mysterious find in Brunei
A brief ethnological note by H. Hughes-Hallett describing the discovery of human remains concealed within a hollow merbau tree near the Belait river in Brunei, published in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1938).
Summary
The tree, approximately 83 inches in girth, was found to contain a cavity holding four human skulls, 253 osseous remains, brass bracelets, an earring, blue beads, and earthenware fragments (p. 100). The cavity had been formed when the tree was young by removing a panel and hollowing the heartwood, after which the panel was replaced and the wound sealed over by callous tissue, concealing the contents for an estimated fifty to one hundred years (p. 100).
The remains represented at least three, probably four individuals, including two well-built adults and two smaller or younger adults, one likely female. Teeth showed evidence of filing and discolouration, and the presence of brass ornaments and beads indicated the remains belonged to an aboriginal or indigenous people (p. 101). Hughes-Hallett notes that while tree burial was common in Borneo, burial inside a living tree was not a known custom, and he was unable to identify a parallel instance in Brunei or Sarawak, leaving the find’s significance unresolved (p. 101).