1_Malaysia Borneo Caves, Sarawak, Niah 马来西亚婆罗洲，砂拉越州属，尼亚洞

Malaysia Borneo Caves, Sarawak, Niah  马来西亚婆罗洲，砂拉越州属，尼亚洞

Located on the Sungai (river) Niah, about 3 km from the small town of Batu Niah, a 110 km to the south-west of Miri in northern Sarawak. The park was first gazetted as a National Historic Monument in 1958, gazetted as National Park on 23 November 1974 and was published to the public on 1 January 1975. The Park is one of Sarawak's smaller national parks, but it is certainly one of the most important and has some of the most unusual visitor attractions. The park's main claim to fame is its role as one of the birthplaces of civilisation in the region. The oldest modern human remains discovered in Southeast Asia were found at Niah, making the park one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.

Forty thousand years ago, the Niah Great Cave sheltered human life. Here lies the oldest human remains in Southeast Asia, along with many other relics of prehistoric man. Today the Cave is home only to bats, swiftlets and other specially adapted forms of life. However, a few locals still venture into the dark interior to collect guano (bird and bat droppings used as fertilizer) and bird's nest.

The famous Painted Cave is another highlight of the visit to Niah Cave. Here, little human-like figures drawn in red haematite watch over a gravesite where the bodies of the dead were each laid in its own boat-shaped coffin. The Great Cave and Painted Cave have been declared as National Historical Monuments.

The Caves are accessible via a raised plankwalk that winds through lowland forest vibrant with birds and butterflies. Apart from the Caves, visitors can explore several kilometres of forest trails to feel the richness of tropical rainforests, climb a 400m tall limestone ridge or visit an Iban longhouse located near the Park boundary. Visitors can also rent a boat or walk along the river from Park headquarters to Batu Niah town.

Early Human Settlements

Niah's important was first realised in 1957. The curator of the Sarawak Museum, Tom harrison, led an archeological dig at the West Mouth of the Great Cave. The exavations revealed plenty of human settlements in the area; tools, cooking utensils and and ornaments, made of bone, stone or clay. The types of items found suggested a long period of settlement reaching back into the palaeolithic era (the earlist part of the stone age).

In 1958, a discovery was made which confirmed Niah's place as a site of major archaeological significance. Harrisson and his team unearthed a skull which was estimated to be 40,000 years old. The find was at first rediculed by the scientific community, for it was the skull of a modern human (homo sapiens), and it was widely believed that  Borneo was settled much later. However, as dating techniques improved and as more evidence of the settlement of Southeast Asia and Australasia came to light, Harrissson was proved right.

What is most interesting about Niah, however is the continued human presence over tens of thousands of years and sophistication of societies that gradually developed there. A large burial site further into the mouth of the cave had clearly been used from palaeolithic times right up to the modern era, as  late as 1400 Ad. The earlist graves found in the deepest levels, were simple shallow graves without adornment. Yet moving up through the layer, coffins and urns appeared along with grave goods such as pottery, textiles and ornaments and even glass and metal items, which came comparatively late to Borneo.

The Great cave is not only important archaeological site. The painted Cave as its name suggests, houses detailed wall-paintings depicting the boat journey of the dead into the afterlife. The meaning of the paintings was explained by the discovery of a number of "deadth-ships" on the cave floor-boat shaped coffins containing the remains of the deceased and a selection of grave-goods considered useful in the afterlife, such as Chinese ceramics, ornaments and glass beads. The death-ships have been dated as ranging between 1 AD and 780 AD, although local Penan folklore tells of the use of dead-ship burials as late as the 19th century.

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