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subsistence economy. These early Neolithic famers preferred to live in caves,
although open living sites (e.g. Gua Kepah) were also inhabited (Dunn 1975). This
particular Hoabinhian site continued to be occupied or at least visited occasionally
by the later Neolithic people. Overseas trade was growing by 4000 YBP. This economy involved coastal aboriginal peoples supplying products from the forests for sea
shells. According to Dunn (1975), there was also an exchange of ideas and techniques among the Malayan coastal people, who served as information and commodity filters for inland people, as seen in the diversity in form, colour and decorative
experimentation of coastal ceramics compared with those found in Gua Cha and
Gua Kechil. Between 5000 and 4000 YBP, internal (inland-inland) trading continued as before, but coastal-inland exchanges had developed into an external trade
from the perspective of the forest people. It is possible that maritime trade had
begun during this period due to the rapid expansion in seafaring activities in insular
Southeast Asia (Dunn 1975).
It is interesting to note that Gua Cha is situated at the boundary between the
Temiar Senoi to the west, and the Semang to the north and east. Both these tribes
speak Aslian languages within the Austroasiatic family, like the Mons in Myanmar
and Khmers in Cambodia. These languages have an ancestry within southern mainland Southeast Asia, which is much older than either Thai or Malay. In this sense,
Taha (1985a, b), a Malaysian archaeologist involved in the excavation of Gua Cha,
believed that the prehistory of the cave’s settlement was almost certainly related to
the Orang Asli. The Gua Cha site contained 27 burials dated between 10,000 and
2000 YBP, spanning both the Hoabinhian and Neolithic periods (Bellwood 1985).
The discovery of Hoabinhian artefacts throughout this region proved that in
Peninsular Malaysia, they were made by population ancestral to the present AustroAsiatic- speaking Semang and Senoi. These ancestral groups had stopped making
flaked stone tools long before recorded history, but the Negritos, according to
Bellwood (1985), have preserved hunting and gathering, and may thus be regarded
as modified descendants of the original inland Hoabinhian economy. Hoabinhian
sites are found mostly in rock shelters, but there are a few coastal shell middens in
Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and northern Vietnam. In Peninsular Malaysia, a
number of inland Hoabinhian caves and shelters have been excavated in the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Pahang and Kelantan (Bellwood 1985).
From the 1979 excavation, Taha (1985a, b) concluded that there was no apparent
hiatus in the occupation of the Gua Cha rock shelter between the Hoabinhian and
Neolithic periods. He also argued that the Hoabinhian and Neolithic cultures in Gua
Cha and other sites with similar remains are closely related to the Orang Asli. The
Indianised civilisations and maritime trade of coastal Peninsular Malaysia had no
real impact on people in this part of the peninsula, and neither did the Malays, at
least not until recent times. Based on these archaeological discoveries, prehistoric
society in Peninsular Malaysia was a creative one, hardworking, innovative and
imbued with logical thinking that enabled improvement, which was no different
from similar societies in other parts of the world (Saidin 2011). As emphasised by
Majid (2003), these findings showed Southeast Asia was not part of “the backwaters
of civilization”.
A. T. Ahmad et al.
subsistence economy. These early Neolithic famers preferred to live in caves,
although open living sites (e.g. Gua Kepah) were also inhabited (Dunn 1975). This
particular Hoabinhian site continued to be occupied or at least visited occasionally
by the later Neolithic people. Overseas trade was growing by 4000 YBP. This economy involved coastal aboriginal peoples supplying products from the forests for sea
shells. According to Dunn (1975), there was also an exchange of ideas and techniques among the Malayan coastal people, who served as information and commodity filters for inland people, as seen in the diversity in form, colour and decorative
experimentation of coastal ceramics compared with those found in Gua Cha and
Gua Kechil. Between 5000 and 4000 YBP, internal (inland-inland) trading continued as before, but coastal-inland exchanges had developed into an external trade
from the perspective of the forest people. It is possible that maritime trade had
begun during this period due to the rapid expansion in seafaring activities in insular
Southeast Asia (Dunn 1975).
It is interesting to note that Gua Cha is situated at the boundary between the
Temiar Senoi to the west, and the Semang to the north and east. Both these tribes
speak Aslian languages within the Austroasiatic family, like the Mons in Myanmar
and Khmers in Cambodia. These languages have an ancestry within southern mainland Southeast Asia, which is much older than either Thai or Malay. In this sense,
Taha (1985a, b), a Malaysian archaeologist involved in the excavation of Gua Cha,
believed that the prehistory of the cave’s settlement was almost certainly related to
the Orang Asli. The Gua Cha site contained 27 burials dated between 10,000 and
2000 YBP, spanning both the Hoabinhian and Neolithic periods (Bellwood 1985).
The discovery of Hoabinhian artefacts throughout this region proved that in
Peninsular Malaysia, they were made by population ancestral to the present AustroAsiatic- speaking Semang and Senoi. These ancestral groups had stopped making
flaked stone tools long before recorded history, but the Negritos, according to
Bellwood (1985), have preserved hunting and gathering, and may thus be regarded
as modified descendants of the original inland Hoabinhian economy. Hoabinhian
sites are found mostly in rock shelters, but there are a few coastal shell middens in
Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and northern Vietnam. In Peninsular Malaysia, a
number of inland Hoabinhian caves and shelters have been excavated in the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Pahang and Kelantan (Bellwood 1985).
From the 1979 excavation, Taha (1985a, b) concluded that there was no apparent
hiatus in the occupation of the Gua Cha rock shelter between the Hoabinhian and
Neolithic periods. He also argued that the Hoabinhian and Neolithic cultures in Gua
Cha and other sites with similar remains are closely related to the Orang Asli. The
Indianised civilisations and maritime trade of coastal Peninsular Malaysia had no
real impact on people in this part of the peninsula, and neither did the Malays, at
least not until recent times. Based on these archaeological discoveries, prehistoric
society in Peninsular Malaysia was a creative one, hardworking, innovative and
imbued with logical thinking that enabled improvement, which was no different
from similar societies in other parts of the world (Saidin 2011). As emphasised by
Majid (2003), these findings showed Southeast Asia was not part of “the backwaters
of civilization”.
A. T. Ahmad et al.