Excavations at Gua Kechil, Pahang
Lord Medway (Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, Earl of Cranbrook) published this faunal analysis in 1969 as the third instalment of the Gua Kechil excavation series, examining vertebrate remains from the Alcove trench near Raub, Pahang, excavated in 1962. The article argues that the assemblage reveals a predominantly Sundaic mammalian fauna dominated by the bearded pig, with no evidence of domesticated animals, and that the replacement of Sus barbatus by the Eurasian wild pig in Malaya is a very recent phenomenon, likely within the last few centuries.
Summary
The article addresses a fundamental problem in Southeast Asian prehistoric archaeology: what can be inferred about the diet, hunting behaviour, and cultural character of early cave-dwelling populations from a heavily fragmented faunal assemblage? Of 1,546 pieces of bone and tooth recovered across the full depth of the Alcove trench, the majority consisted of small unassociated fragments too degraded for systematic identification. Medway therefore restricts his analysis to the small proportion of remains sufficiently intact for confident taxonomic assignment, comparing them against the recent skeleton collection at the University of Malaya’s Zoology Unit.
The anthropological discussion draws a sharp contrast between Gua Kechil and the contemporaneous Niah cave deposits in Sarawak. The complete absence of arboreal mammals—particularly monkeys, which constituted a very large proportion of the Niah mammalian fauna—implies a major cultural difference between the human frequenters of the two sites. The absence of any domesticated animal, including dog, is likewise noted as significant. Between the Gua Kechil II and III levels, however, there is significant continuity in faunal composition, with pig remaining the most frequently identified mammal throughout.
The zoological discussion carries the article’s most consequential argument. Among the relatively abundant pig remains, only the bearded pig (Sus barbatus) can be identified with confidence, based on mesiodistal tooth measurements that consistently exceed those of Sus scrofa. Given that the bearded pig is a true Sundaic species adapted to tall primary forest and that Gua Kechil lies near the northern limit of its historic range in Malaya, Medway concludes that the current dominance of the Eurasian wild pig in the region is an ecological consequence of agricultural development—specifically swidden cultivation—and is archaeologically very recent. A secondary zoo-geographical point concerns the mouse-deer: the lesser species (Tragulus javanicus) is represented at depths exceeding 5,000 years, while the larger species (T. napu) appears only at near-surface levels, consistent with a hypothesis of post-Pleistocene range expansion following land connections between Borneo, Sumatra, and the mainland.
Key Findings
- A C14 date of 4800 ± 800 years B.P. (2850 ± 800 B.C.) was obtained from bone at the 14–16 inch level, anchoring the Gua Kechil II horizon (p. 197).
- At least thirteen individual pigs are represented in the assemblage; four specimens are identified as Sus barbatus on the basis of mesiodistal crown length, and none is unambiguously attributable to Sus scrofa (pp. 200–201).
- The lesser mouse-deer (Tragulus javanicus) is represented by at least three individuals extending to 24–26 inches below surface, while the larger mouse-deer (Tragulus napu) is represented by a single tooth from 2–4 inches (pp. 199–200).
- The sambar (Cervus unicolor) is represented by at least three individuals, including charred antler fragments from the surface level and unworn teeth from 8–14 inches; the barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak) by a single molar from 10–12 inches (pp. 199–200).
- No remains of domesticated animals, including dog, were identified; no arboreal mammals (monkeys) occur, in marked contrast to the Niah assemblage (pp. 201–202).
- Fish bones are identified only from levels corresponding to Gua Kechil III (above 14 inches), a pattern Medway attributes to differential preservation rather than absence from the diet (pp. 201–202).
Conclusion
Medway’s definitive historical takeaway is that the faunal record from Gua Kechil demonstrates the bearded pig as the dominant wild pig of the Malayan forest well into the recent past, and that its displacement by the Eurasian wild pig is an ecological consequence of agricultural expansion rather than a deep-time faunal shift. The absence of arboreal mammals and domesticated animals further distinguishes the Gua Kechil cultural sequence from the Niah tradition, pointing to fundamentally different subsistence strategies among contemporary Southeast Asian cave populations.
Context
- Comparative specimens were drawn from the skeleton collection of the Zoology Unit, School of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya; the article forms part of a broader comparative framework linking Gua Kechil with the Niah cave excavations in Sarawak (Medway, 1958, 1959, 1964, 1966).
- The study contributes to the post-Pleistocene biogeography of Sundaland by providing archaeological evidence for the historical range of Tragulus javanicus on the mainland and the recency of Sus scrofa’s ecological expansion in Malaya.