Sarawak’s ancient treasure trove is a place where the threads of human history come together.
In Santubong, nature’s beauty and cultural significance come together, attracting explorers and history enthusiasts for decades.
This beautiful land holds the key to unlocking the mysterious stories of its past.
The Advent of Tom Harrisson: Architect of Discovery
With the history of Datuk Marapati establishing Negeri Santubong as a Port City, there is actual evidence supporting this claim.
Archaeological research in the state began just after the Second World War under Tom Harrisson’s leadership, a curator of the Sarawak Museum in 1947.
Harrisson explored the Sarawak River delta, a 600 km² area encompassing various locations. One of these, Kampung Santubong at the foot of Mount Santubong, caught his attention due to the discoveries made there since the 19th century.
During his exploration at the Sungai Jaong site, Harrisson noticed iron slag at the foot of Batu Gambar. This led him to conduct surveys in 1948 using mine detectors to find concentrations of iron slag, indicating potential excavation sites.
He identified five sites (Sungai Jaong, Sungai Buah, Bongkisam, Bukit Maras, and Kampung Ayer), which he later excavated at different times between 1952 and 1966.
Discoveries prove that Santubong was a Port City
Archaeological excavations at these sites have uncovered various artefacts such as stone carvings depicting people and symbols, iron remains, crucibles used for iron-smelting, earthenware fragments, gold and metal objects, as well as glass beads and bangles.
Based on the evidence found, it is believed that the Santubong sites in the Sarawak River delta area used to be a significant centre for traders and iron mining between the 11th and 13th centuries AD.
For instance, earthenware fragments discovered at a construction site in Bukit Maras near Kampung Santubong provide evidence that this area was once a port.
Assistant Curator of the Sarawak Museum Department Mohd Sherman Sauffi said that the historic artefact found in Bukit Maras is believed to be from the Song Dynasty era.
This discovery, Mohd Sherman said, confirms that the area served as one of the stopover locations for China’s trade routes in Southeast Asia.
Following the discovery in Bukit Maras, he said, “The land development operations in the area were temporarily halted to make way for excavation work by curators.”
He further explained, “The action enables the Sarawak Museum to carry out the excavation process to save the historical artefacts found at the location. During our inspection there, it led to the discovery of ceramic fragments and old pottery fragments.”
“As such, we believe there are still many artefacts embedded in the construction site, therefore, excavation work is being carried out,” he said.
Mohd Sherman said, “The excavation work there is the last and important effort to identify artefacts that can link the existence of the relationship between the areas involved with the heyday of the Chinese trade route thousands of years ago.”
He attributed this significance to the existence of oral information which stated that the area was once a stopover location for members of Admiral Cheng Ho’s entourage, one of the most important figures in exploring the country’s trade relations with the African and Asian continents.
“The excavation process is carried out intensively in the areas identified for that purpose,” he added.
Sherman also shared, “Moreover, prior to our inspection process at Bukit Maras, we found 86 fragments which are believed to be from the Song Dynasty.”
Santubong – the largest archaeological site in Malaysia
The Sarawak Museum Department stated that Santubong is the largest archaeological site in Malaysia, even bigger than Lembah Bujang in Peninsular Malaysia.
In 1949, under the curatorship of Tom Harrison, thousands of ceramic sherds were excavated.
In an Ecole Francaise d’Etreme-Orient (EFEO) project inception article by Prof Dr. Daniel Perret and Mohd Sherman, it was mentioned that Harrison began his digging in Sungai Jaong in 1952, where he found iron slag.
“What is certain is that he completed his fieldwork in Sungai Jaong in June – July 1966. The first trench, dug at the foot of the Batu Gambar, yielded iron slag as well as stoneware and earthenware shards,” they stated.
“He also mentioned that fifty gold objects were recovered during the 1952 and 1957 seasons, including 30 plain and 15 decorated pieces of gold foil, 3 small rings, and 2 beads. Most of them were found in an area he interpreted as a burial ground, which also yielded glass beads and a few whole small Chinese vessels.”
In light of this, they said that Harrisson also described many rock carvings that he thought were contemporary with the commercial activities carried out on this site, dating back to the end of the first millennium and the beginning of the second millennium AD.
Following this, they stated that Harrisson started his excavations in Bongkisam in the 1950s, apparently after the first one conducted at Sungai Jaong, and undertook his last campaign there in July 1966.
“Preliminary surveys detected iron slag over about 800 metres along the Santubong River. He pointed out that the 1955 season alone yielded 67,000 shards of pottery, 49,000 shards of stoneware and porcelain, more than 600 beads, glass bangle fragments, as well as more than 22 tonnes of iron slag.”
After working at Sungai Jaong, Harrison conducted excavations in Bongkisam in the 1950s and finished his last campaign there in July 1966. During his work, he found a Hindu-Buddhist stone structure in July 1966, the only Hindu-Buddhist monument made of permanent materials discovered in Sarawak to date.
Inside a sealed shaft filled with yellow sand, Harrison found a ritual deposit containing a decorated silver box, gold objects, semi-precious stones, a stone image, beads, and earthenware shards. The silver box held a gold ‘lingga,’ a piece of gold foil, and organic black material. Outside the box, 141 gold objects were uncovered, including gold foil pieces shaped like animals and humans, finger rings, circular objects, beads, needles, pins, and gold fragments.
The eroded stone image of a seated figure was identified by Harrison as one aspect of Tārā. Based on Chinese ceramic shards found on its surface and radiocarbon dating on charcoal collected outside the structure, the shrine was dated to 1220 – 1410 AD.
Comparing his findings with other ritual deposits in Southeast Asia, Harrison interpreted this structure as a Tantric shrine dated after 1000 CE and before 1300 AD. Additionally, a tile with an elephant motif, a stūpa finial, and a stone Buddha statuette were found in Bukit Maras, just above Bongkisam. This Buddha image is thought to date back to before the 10th century AD.
What does the archaeologist say?
With the discoveries made and Santubong known as the largest archaeological site in Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) expert Dr. Nicholas Gani said that the progress of archaeology in Sarawak is still limited due to the lack of training for new local archaeologists.
Dr Nicholas said that most archaeological work done in Sarawak in the last 50 years was carried out either by researchers from universities in Peninsular Malaysia or by foreign researchers.
However, he said that the archaeological work is done in collaboration with the Sarawak Museum, which oversees the management and protection of archaeological sites in the state.
Despite the collaboration, Dr. Nicholas noted that there is no proper archaeological research unit in any of the local universities in Sarawak, and there aren’t many archaeologists based in the state.
Having been involved in archaeological research for over a decade, Dr. Nicholas believed that there are still many more archaeological sites to be discovered in Sarawak.
He explained, “One of the reasons why some archaeological sites are yet to be explored is because of the problem of access.” Many areas in the interior of Sarawak are difficult to reach and remain unexplored archaeologically.
He further added, “I expect there to be many more archaeological sites in the interior areas which are far from road access.”
Archaeological site as tourism destinations
Following this, Dr Nicholas pointed out that archaeological sites are important tourism destinations in many places around the world.
He referred to examples like Stonehenge in England and Angkor Wat, along with other ancient temples in Cambodia, which attract a large number of tourists annually.
“Tourism activities at archaeological sites provide tremendous economic benefits like providing jobs and generating income for the local population.
“This is especially true if the archaeological sites achieve global recognition, for example, as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Sites.”
