The Contributions of Lembah Bujang to the Iron Industry in Malaysia
(Sumbangan Lembah Bujang terhadap Industri Besi di Malaysia)
Abstract
The iron age is considered to be part of the prehistoric periodization in Malaysian Cultural History. However, until the discovery of the Sungai Batu Archaeological Complex, discoveries related to this period were extremely scarce. The earliest prehistoric iron age artifacts dated 1300 B.P. were found in Batu Kurau, Perak. Most of these discoveries consisted of complete tools and implements found in Santubong and Tembeling with unclear archaeological contexts, with the latter being the only evidence for iron smelting activity. Interpretations of these discoveries had posed some problems due to dating and chronological issues. However, with the discovery of the iron smelthing sites in Sungai Batu in 2009, our knowledge regarding Iron Age in Malaysia has become clearer. The geo-archaeological method and scientific analysis approach was adopted to study these sites, which yieded the date 535 B.C.E. This paper attempts to discuss the contributions of Sungai Batu to our present knowledge on the iron age in Malaysia.
Keywords: Sungai Batu site, Kedah, iron smelting, geo-archaeology
References
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Winstedt, R. O. (1920). History of Kedah. Journal of The Malayan Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society. Singapura: Methodist Publishing House.
Zolkurnian Hassan. (1998). Urutan kebudayaan prasejarah Lembah Lenggong, Hulu Perak, Perak pada Zaman Holosen (Unpublished masters thesis). Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang.
Zuliskandar Ramli et al. (2008). Kajian komposisi dan fizikal bata purba di Kampung Sungai Mas (Tapak 32). Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia, 21, 100 - 127.
Zuraina Majid. (1982). The West Mouth, Niah in the Prehistory of Southeast Asia. Special Monograph 3. Sarawak Museum Journal, 31(52), 1 - 200.
Zuraina Majid. (1988). Indigenous Malaysia bronze manufacture or not? Short notes of new evidence from Gua Harimau, in Perak, North Malaysia. Paper presented at International Conference on Ancient Bronze Drums and Bronze Cultures in Southern China and Southeast Asia, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Zuraina Majid. (1998). Radiocarbon dates and culture sequence in the Lenggong Valley and Beyond. Malaysia Museums Journal, 34, 241 - 249.
Allen, J. (1988). Trade, transportation and tributaries: Exchange, agriculture and settlement distribution in early historic period Kedah Malaysia (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Hawaii, Hawaii.
Balasubramaniam, R. (2006). Metallurgy of Ancient Indian iron and steel. In Encyclopaedia of The History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures.
Bellwood, P. (1988). Archaeological research in Southeastern Sabah (pp.1 - 282). Sabah Museum Monograph 2. Sabah Museum, Kota Kinabalu.
Chia, S., & Zolkurnian Hasan. (2005). Gua Harimau, a prehistoric cemetery in Lenggong, Perak. In Zuraina Majid (Ed.), The Perak man and other prehistoric skeletons in Malaysia. Pulau Pinang: Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Chia, S. (2007). The metal period in Malaysia. In Mokhtar Saidin, & Chia, S. (Eds.), Archaeological heritage of Malaysia. Pulau Pinang: Pusat Penyelidikan Arkeologi Malaysia.
Chia, S. (2009). Konsep kebudayaan dalam prasejarah Malaysia. In Fan, P., & Yong, C. (Eds.). Kebudayaan Malaysia: Satu Pengenalan. Kuala Lumpur: Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara.
Chirikure, S., & Rehren, T. (2004). Ores, furnaces, slags and prehistoric societies: Aspects of iron working in the Nyanga agricultural complex, AD1300-1900. African Archaeological Review, 21(3), 135 - 152.
Datan, Ipoi. (1993). Archaeological excavations at Gua Sireh (Serian) and Lubang Angin (Gunung Mulu National Park). Sarawak Museum Journal, 45(66), 1 - 192.
David, N. et al. (1989). Between bloomery and blast furnace: Mafa Iron-Smelting Technology in North Cameroon. The African Archaeological Review, 7, 183 - 208.
Evans, I. H. N. (1922). On the ancient structures on Kedah Peak. Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, IX(4).
Evans, I. H. N. (1926). Results of an expedition to Kedah. Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, XII(3).
Evans, I. H. N. (1930). Ancient inscription at Cherok Tokun, Province Wellesley. Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, XV(1).
Evans, I. H. N. (1931). Excavation at Nyong, Tembeling River, Pahang. Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, XV(2), 51 - 62.
Harrisson, T., & O'Connor, S. J. (1969a). Excavations of the prehistoric iron industry in west Borneo. Volume One: Raw materials and industrial waste. Cornell University Southeast Asia Program.
Harrisson, T., & O’Connor, S. J. (1969b). Excavations of the prehistoric iron industry in west Borneo. Volume Two: Associated artifacts and ideas. Cornell University Southeast Asia Program.
Heimann, R. B. et al. (2001). Mineralogical and chemical investigations of bloomery slags from prehistoric (8th century bc to 4th century ad) iron production sites in upper and lower Lusatia, Germany. Archaeometry, 43(2), 227 - 252.
Hoyland, R. G., & Gilmour, B. (2006). Medieval Islamic swords and swordmaking. Gibb Memorial Trust.
Iles, L., & Martino´n-Torres, M. (2009). Pastoralist iron production on the Laikipia Plateau, Kenya: Wider implications for archaeometallurgy studies. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(10), 2314 -2326.
Jacq-Hergoualch, M. (2002). The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silkroad (100 BC-1300 AD): Brill N.V., & Leiden.
Kamarudin Zakaria. (2004). Penyelidikan arkeologi Sungai Mas, Kedah. Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia, 17.
Leong Sau Heng. (1973). A study of ceramic deposits from Pengkalan Bujang Kedah ( Unpublished masters thesis). Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.
Mohd. Supian Sabtu. (2002). Tamadun Awal Lembah Bujang. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Mokhtar Saidin. (2010). Bukti Prasejarah di Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Mokhtar Saidin et al. (2011). Issues and problems of previous studies in the Bujang Valley and the discovery of the Sungai Batu. In Stephen Chia, & Andaya, B. W. (Eds.). Bujang Valley and early civilisations in Southeast Asia. Kuala Lumpur: Jabatan Warisan Negara, Kementerian Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan.
McDonnell, G. (1995). (10 Mei 2010). Iron working processes. In The historical metallurgy society: Archaeology datasheet no 3. Retrieved from hist-met.org at 10 Mei 2010.
Needham, J. (1980). The evolumeution of iron and steel technology in East and Southeast Asia. In Theodore. A. W., & Muhly, J. D. (Eds.). The Coming of the Age of Iron. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Ngonadi, J. U. (2010). Relationship between furnace structure and slag properties: The case of Fipa and Nyiha iron smelting technology (Unpublished masters thesis). University of Dar es Salaam, Afrika.
Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman, & Othman Mohd. Yatim. (1992). Warisan Lembah Bujang. Bangi: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Prakash, B., & Igaki, K. (1984). Ancient iron making in Bastar district. Indian Journal of History of Science, 19(2), 175 – 185.
Rostoker, W., & Bronson, B. (1990). Pre-industrial iron: Its technology and ethnology. Archeomaterials Monograph No. 1. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania.
Schmidt, P. R. (1997). Ideology and the archaeological record in Africa: Interpreting symbolism in iron smelting technology. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 16, 73 - 102.
Sieveking, G. (1956). The iron age collections of Malaya. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 29(2), 79 - 138.
Suchitta, P. (1983). The history and development of iron smelting technology in Thailand ( Unpublished doctoral thesis). Brown University: University Microfilms International.
Thani Nagayam, X. S. (1968). The identification of Kataram. In Proceedings of the First International Conference-Seminar of Tamil Studies. Kuala Lumpur.
Tweedie, M. W. F. (1970). Prehistoric Malaya. Eastern Univerties Press. Sdn. Bhd.
Veldhuijzen, H. A. (2005). Technical ceramics in early iron smelting: The role of ceramics in the early first millennium BC iron production at Tell Hammeh (Az-Zarqa), Jordan. In Prudêncio, I., Dias, I., & Waerenborgh, J. C. (Eds.). Understanding People through Their Pottery. In Proceedings of the 7th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics (EMAC '03) (pp. 295 – 302). Lisbon: Instituto Português de Arqueologia (IPA).
Wales, Q. H. G. (1940). Archaeological research on ancient Indian colonization in Malaya. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Studies, XVIII(1).
Wales, Q. H. G. (1946). Recent Malayan excavation and some wider implications. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, XV - XVIII.
Winstedt, R. O. (1920). History of Kedah. Journal of The Malayan Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society. Singapura: Methodist Publishing House.
Zolkurnian Hassan. (1998). Urutan kebudayaan prasejarah Lembah Lenggong, Hulu Perak, Perak pada Zaman Holosen (Unpublished masters thesis). Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang.
Zuliskandar Ramli et al. (2008). Kajian komposisi dan fizikal bata purba di Kampung Sungai Mas (Tapak 32). Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia, 21, 100 - 127.
Zuraina Majid. (1982). The West Mouth, Niah in the Prehistory of Southeast Asia. Special Monograph 3. Sarawak Museum Journal, 31(52), 1 - 200.
Zuraina Majid. (1988). Indigenous Malaysia bronze manufacture or not? Short notes of new evidence from Gua Harimau, in Perak, North Malaysia. Paper presented at International Conference on Ancient Bronze Drums and Bronze Cultures in Southern China and Southeast Asia, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Zuraina Majid. (1998). Radiocarbon dates and culture sequence in the Lenggong Valley and Beyond. Malaysia Museums Journal, 34, 241 - 249.
Published
2018-07-01
How to Cite
MOKHTAR, Naizatul Akma; SAIDIN, Mokhtar.
The Contributions of Lembah Bujang to the Iron Industry in Malaysia.
Melayu: Jurnal Antarabangsa Dunia Melayu, [S.l.], v. 11, n. 2, p. 183-200, july 2018.
ISSN 2682-8049.
Available at: <https://jurnal.dbp.my/index.php/Melayu/article/view/3349>. Date accessed: 04 may 2024.
Section
Articles
