Recent archaeological discoveries in Malaya (1956

G. de G. Sieveking’s 1959 summary of archaeological discoveries in Malaya for the first half of 1956 documents a range of prehistoric and historic-period finds across Perak, Perlis, Trengganu, and Johore, reflecting the active fieldwork programme of the Federation of Malaya Museums department and the University of Malaya in the years immediately preceding independence. The article serves as both a record of specific excavations and a working assessment of unresolved questions in Malayan prehistory, particularly the nature of Iron Age cist grave burials and the chronological relationship between Neolithic and later ceramic traditions.

Summary

The prehistoric material is organised by state and period. In Perak, a further Iron Age cist grave at Slim River was excavated in March 1956, but the site had been previously disturbed, yielding only flooring slabs, a few sherds of local pottery, and iron fragments. The excavation was prompted by Dr C. A. Gibson-Hill’s desire to obtain soil samples from an undisturbed cist grave to test for bone ash, a question that remained unresolved because the grave in question had already been opened. In Perlis, a University of Malaya party under Dr Michael Sullivan examined a cave at Bukit Chuping, recovering Neolithic and Iron Age pottery and a polished cylindrical stone tool interpreted as a gorge or primitive fish-hook, a form unknown among modern Malayan aborigines. In Trengganu, R. O. D. Noone investigated a cave at Gunong Bewak containing two habitation layers: a lower Neolithic deposit with cord-impressed pottery and polished stone adzes, and an upper layer showing traces of modern negrito occupation, including a bone fish-hook identified by negrito field assistants. Noone emphasised the site’s significance in documenting prehistoric use of aboriginal routes over the watershed to the River Tembeling.

The historic-period material centres on two sites. At Kampong Makam Sultan, Kota Tinggi, Johore, Chinese porcelain sherds were recovered from a river bank, including blue-and-white wares and Batavia cafe-au-lait backed porcelain with underglaze blue decoration. Sieveking dates these to around the close of the seventeenth century, linking them to the brief period (c. 1688–1699) when Kota Tinggi served as the seat of the Johore court under Sultan Mahmud Shah. At Tanjong Rawa, Kuala Selinsing, Perak, a further excavation in April–May 1956 targeted Carbon-14 sampling from the earliest deposits containing canoe burials first identified by Evans in 1932. Parts of two canoes were recovered, one deliberately cut into four pieces to form a box-like coffin, accompanied by a vessel of typical Tanjong Rawa pottery with cardium-shell decoration and a polished bone needle or auger. Two small sherds of Pontian ware were found at the same level, reinforcing the hypothesis that Pontian pottery represents a late phase of the site’s first occupation.

Key Findings

• The Slim River cist grave (March 1956) measured approximately 8 ft × 2.5 ft in flooring slab area; the site had been previously opened and largely destroyed, precluding the intended soil sampling for bone ash analysis (p. 205).
• A polished cylindrical stone tool, three inches long and pointed at both ends, was recovered from Bukit Chuping, Perlis, and interpreted by analogy with a negrito example from Trengganu as a gorge or primitive fish-hook; stone tool polishing is unknown among modern Malayan aborigines (p. 206).
• The Gunong Bewak cave, Trengganu, contained two habitation layers: a lower Neolithic deposit with cord-impressed pottery (one flat-based cylindrical jar, three hemispherical bowls) and two broken quadrangular polished stone adzes, and an upper layer with negrito occupation evidence including a three-inch double-pointed cylindrical bone fish-hook (p. 207).
• Chinese porcelain from Kota Tinggi included Batavia cafe-au-lait backed ware with underglaze blue decoration, presumably of early K’ang Hsi manufacture, and blue-and-white wares with aster and chrysanthemum motifs datable to the close of the sixteenth century or later, with a combined date of around the close of the seventeenth century (pp. 207–208).
• At Tanjong Rawa, the larger canoe had been deliberately cut into four pieces with the ends laid over the centre to form a box or coffin; it contained a single vessel of Tanjong Rawa pottery with cardium-shell decoration and a polished bone needle or auger (pp. 208–209).
• Two Pontian ware sherds (one with wave decoration, one a roundel from a cord-impressed jar base with chipped edges prepared for use as scrapers) were recovered at the same level as the boat burial, supporting the attribution of Pontian pottery to a late phase of the first Tanjong Rawa occupation (p. 209).

Conclusion

Sieveking’s summary underscores that Malayan archaeology in the mid-1950s was still in a formative stage, with fundamental questions—such as whether Iron Age cist graves contained cremated or inhumed remains, and how to date the earliest Neolithic occupations—remaining open due to the disturbance of sites and the absence of radiometric dating. The article positions the 1956 season as a transitional moment: the Tanjong Rawa excavation was explicitly designed to obtain Carbon-14 samples, marking the introduction of absolute dating methods to Malayan prehistory, while the Kuala Muda survey announced for 1957 signalled the expansion of systematic regional investigation beyond the traditional Perak and Johore sites.

Context

• The article draws on fieldwork by the Federation of Malaya Museums department, the Raffles Museum (Singapore), and the University of Malaya Archaeological Society, with contributions from Dr C. A. Gibson-Hill, Dr Michael Sullivan, R. O. D. Noone, and K. G. Tregonning.
• Historiographically, the piece functions as a periodic field report that documents the state of Malayan prehistoric and historic archaeology on the eve of independence, and it is particularly valuable for its explicit discussion of methodological problems (site disturbance, the absence of skeletal remains, the need for radiocarbon dating) that shaped subsequent research priorities.

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