Guar Kepah: Evidence of Neolithic Burial in Shell Mound
(Tapak Guar Kepah: Bukti Perkuburan Masyarakat Neolitik di dalam Timbunan Cangkerang Laut)
Abstract
The archaeological site of Guar Kepah lies in the state of Penang on the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. Studies conducted in the area over a period of more than 155 years have revealed clear evidence of a coastal Neolithic community that adapted to its marine and estuarine environment. The fluctuation of sea levels and coastline changes affected ancient humans in Guar Kepah, as well as their subsistence pattern. A recent excavation in 2017 on a shell mound at site B has revealed an in-situ human skeleton with associated artefacts and ecofacts, displaying rituals of Neolithic burials. The discovery of this skeleton, as well as 41 other human remains recorded previously, indicates that Guar Kepah has been used as the main burial site for Neolithic communities in the area. Furthermore, Guar Kepah is the only site of shell-mound burials in Malaysia to date.
Keywords: Guar Kepah, neolithic, burials, human skeletons, shell mound, isotopes
References
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Buikstra, J. E., & Ubelaker, D. (1994). Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains. Arkansas archeological survey research series no 44. Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Bulbeck, F. D. (2003). Hunter-gatherer occupation of the Malay Peninsula from the Ice Age to the Iron Age. In J. Mercader (Ed.), The archaeology of Tropical Rain Forests (119 - 160). New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
Bulbeck, F. D. (2005). The Guar Kepah human remains. In Zuraina Majid (Ed.), The Perak Man and Other Prehistoric Skeletons of Malaysia (383 - 424). Pulau Pinang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Callenfels, van Stein, P. V. (1935). An advance in far-eastern prehistory: Prehistoric kitchen middens in the Straits Settlements - ancient shell-heaps at Guar Kepah, containing relics of australomelanesoid culture in Malay Peninsula. The Illustrated London News, 5 Jan 1935 , pp. 13 - 15.
Callenfels, van Stein, P. V. (1936). An excavation of three kitchen middens at Guar Kepah, Province Wellesley, Straits Settlements. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, B, 1(1), 1936, 27 - 37.
Earl, G. W. (1863). On the Shell-Mounds of Province Wellesley, in the Malay Peninsula. Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London, 2, 119 - 129.
Evans, I. H. N. (1929). On ancient kitchen-middens in province Wellesley. Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, 15, 15 - 18.
Foo, Shu Tieng. (2010). Hoabinhian rocks: An examination of Guar Kepah artifacts from the Heritage Conservation Centre in Jurong (Unpublished master's thesis). National University of Singapore. Retrieved from http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/ handle/10635/20404.
Huxley F. W. (1863). Letter on the human remains found in the shell-mounds. Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London, 2, 265 - 266.
Jacob, T. (1967). Some problem pertaining to the racial history of the Indonesian region. Utrecht: Netherlands Bureau for Technical Assistance.
Mijsberg, W. A. (1940). On a neolithic palae-melanesian jaw found in a kitchen midden at Guar Kepah, Province Wellesley, Straits Settlements. In F. N. Chasen, & W. W. F. Tweedie (Eds.), Proceeding of the Third Congress of Prehistorians of the Far East 1938 (pp. 100 - 118). Singapura: Government of the Straits Settlement.
Mokhtar Saidin. (2008). Arkeologi: Penempatan awal di Seberang Perai dan Pulau Pinang. In Muhammad Haji Salleh (Ed.), Sejarah Awal Pulau Pinang (1 - 16). Pulau Pinang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Mokhtar Saidin, Jaffrey Abdullah, & Jalil Osman. (2011). Masa depan USM dan USU dalam penyelidikan arkeologi serantau. In Mokhtar Saidin, & Suprayitno (Eds.), Prosiding Seminar Antarabangsa Mengungkap Peradaban Asia Tenggara melalui Tapak Padang Lawas, Sumatera dan Tapak Sungai Batu, Kedah (1 - 16). Pulau Pinang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Najmiah Rosli, Hafizuddin Mansor, N. A. Ismail, S. S. K. Masnan, & M. Saidin (2018). Stratigraphy identification with emphasis to shells layer using 2-D electrical resistivity method at Guar Kepah, Penang. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 995(2018) 012085.
Wales, D., & Wales, H. (1947). Further work on Indian sites in Malaya. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 20 (1(141)) (Jun 1947), 1 - 11. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41559999 .
Tjia, H. D. (1991). Pertukaran garisan tepi laut Perak selama sembilan ribu tahun terakhir. Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia, 4, 1 - 15.
Tykot, R. (2004). Stable isotopes and diet: You are what you eat. In M. Martini, M. Milazzo, & M. Piacentini (Eds.), Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" Course CLIV. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
Zuliskandar Ramli, & Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abd. Rahman. (2010). Maritime community in Pulau Kelumpang, Matang, Perak: Based on archaeological evidences. Jurnal Arkeologi Malaysia, 23, 41 - 53.
Zuliskandar Ramli, & Nik Adzrieman Abd. Rahman. (2016). Adaptasi dan evolusi masyarakat maritim di Guar Kepah, Seberang Prai, Pulau Pinang. In Jamaluddin Md. Jahi, Abdul Samad Hadi, Ahmad Fariz Mohamed, & Kadaruddin Aiyub (Eds.), Transformasi dan Dayahuni Habitat Manusia (93 - 116). Bangi, Selangor: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Published
2018-07-01
How to Cite
SHAHIDAN, Shaiful et al.
Guar Kepah: Evidence of Neolithic Burial in Shell Mound.
Melayu: Jurnal Antarabangsa Dunia Melayu, [S.l.], v. 11, n. 2, p. 231-251, july 2018.
ISSN 2682-8049.
Available at: <https://jurnal.dbp.my/index.php/Melayu/article/view/3752>. Date accessed: 26 dec. 2024.
Section
Articles
