Article

Radio carbon (C–14) dates from Kota Batu, Brunei – back to 12,500 B.C

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

Radio carbon (C–14) dates from Kota Batu, Brunei – back to 12,500 B.C

Tom Harrisson’s 1972 article reports the third series of radio-carbon (C-14) analyses from Kota Batu, the ancient capital of Brunei, extending the site’s documented occupation back to approximately 12,500 B.C. The central argument is that this date, combined with earlier results, confirms the presence of Stone-Age human activity on the Brunei coastal plain—a long-standing gap in Bornean prehistory that Harrisson had previously termed “the Missing Brunei Stone-Age.”

Summary

The article presents eight new C-14 results from Gakushuin University (1971), bringing the total for Kota Batu to twenty-three dates spanning from 12,500 B.C. to 1850 A.D.—the widest time scale for any Iron-Age site yet studied in Southeast Asia. The most significant finding is a charred wood sample (71/7) dated at 14,350 ± 350 years before present, recovered at a depth of 36–42 inches. Harrisson argues that this date, even allowing for the margin of error, is older than any other human occupation recorded outdoors anywhere in Borneo, surpassed only by the deep levels of the Niah Caves in Sarawak (which reach back to approximately 39,550 B.C.). He contends that the result is not surprising given the geological connection via the Sundaland land-bridge, which would have made Brunei Bay an easy walk from Niah for early Homo sapiens, and that the absence of comparable early dates from the coastal plain elsewhere reflects a gap in investigation rather than absence of occupation.

A second thread of argument concerns the antiquity of coconut cultivation in Brunei. Two warped and twisted cut sections of old shell from the deepest excavated level (60–66 inches) yielded a date of 360 ± 80 B.P. (approximately 1590 A.D.), placing coconut use firmly within the Ming dynasty period. Harrisson connects this to what he calls “the Ming Gap”—the absence of Chinese ceramics and coconut in Sarawak during the same period—and notes that the Chu-fah Chih of Chao Ju-Kua (c. 1225 A.D.) already reports coconut wine being drawn in Brunei, suggesting the tree was established well before the C-14 date implies.

The third thread addresses the complications of dating dammar resin, a light and durable substance exuded by Dipterocarp trees. More than a thousand pieces were recovered in the excavations, but their dates (1320, 1630, and 1850 A.D.) are “somewhat confusing” because dammar can “float” upward in waterlogged deposits, can be picked up from the forest and used centuries after formation, and the parent Shorea tree may live four or more centuries, potentially exuding resin across a wide temporal range. Despite these variables, Harrisson identifies a broad depth-age correlation across all twenty-three dates, with the oldest results concentrated below 36 inches and the most recent in the top three feet of deposit.

Key Findings

  • The oldest C-14 date from Kota Batu is 14,350 ± 350 B.P. (approx. 12,500 B.C.), from charred wood at 36–42 inches depth (sample 71/7), making it the oldest known open-air human occupation in Borneo (p. 111).
  • A total of twenty-three C-14 dates are now available for Kota Batu, spanning 12,500 B.C. to 1850 A.D. (p. 113).
  • Coconut shell from 60–66 inches depth yielded 360 ± 80 B.P. (approx. 1590 A.D.), confirming cultivation during the Ming dynasty (p. 112).
  • Dammar resin dates of 630 ± 90 B.P. (1320 A.D.), 320 ± 100 B.P. (1630 A.D.), and 100 ± 70 B.P. (1850 A.D.) are complicated by the material’s tendency to “float” in waterlogged deposits and the multi-century lifespan of the parent Shorea tree (p. 113).
  • The earliest Niah Caves date is approximately 39,550 B.C., more than twice as old as the Kota Batu result, but Kota Batu’s date is the oldest for any open-air site in Borneo (p. 111).
  • Of the twenty-three dates, sixteen fall below 36 inches depth, with all six of the oldest results (690 A.D. to 12,500 B.C.) occurring below that level (p. 114, Table III).

Conclusion

Harrisson’s definitive historical takeaway is that the C-14 evidence strongly confirms that Stone-Age man was present on the Brunei coastal plain, and that the missing stone tools must exist in the ground—they simply have not yet been found. The 14,350-year date, combined with the earlier result of 95 B.C., “strongly confirms good old common sense” that the artifacts are there, given their rich presence to the north in Sabah and to the south in Sarawak (p. 112).

Context

  • The primary data derive from C-14 analyses conducted at Gakushuin University (1971) on materials excavated from Kota Batu under the direction of P.M. Shariffuddin, Curator of the Brunei Museum; earlier series were reported in the Brunei Museum Journal (1970, 1971) (p. 115, note 1).
  • The article contributes to the broader historiographical project of establishing a continuous prehistoric sequence for the Bornean coastal plain, linking the Sundaland land-bridge model to the archaeological record and bridging the gap between the deep cave sequences of Sarawak and Sabah and the Iron-Age and later historical record of Brunei.

References