Recent archaeological discoveries in Malaya (1951)
P.D.R. Williams-Hunt, serving as Acting Director of Museums and Adviser on Aborigines in the Federation of Malaya, published this field report in 1952 documenting archaeological material recovered across six states during 1951. The article’s central significance lies in the discovery at Bukit Tengku Lembu, Perlis, of what Williams-Hunt identifies as the finest Neolithic burial yet found in the Federation, including two Greek pottery sherds that provide the first external chronological anchor for the Malayan Neolithic.
Summary
The article is a comprehensive catalogue of archaeological finds collected during 1951 field trips undertaken by the Museums Department in conjunction with the Department of the Adviser on Aborigines. Williams-Hunt explains that conditions in the Federation prevented serious excavation work, but his dual appointment allowed him to direct museum personnel on field trips that yielded substantial material. A recurring theme is the destructive role of guano diggers, who had already excavated most of the major cave sites; in several cases, State Governments agreed to restrict guano removal until archaeological work could be completed, and the British Adviser to Perlis, M.J. Hayward, played a crucial role in monitoring the Bukit Tengku Lembu site and recovering material as it was exposed.
The most substantial section concerns Perlis, where the Bukit Tengku Lembu rock shelter and associated caves produced three burials (two adults and a child of about eight years), over one hundred pottery vessels including types new to the Malayan Neolithic (straight-sided bowls on pedestal feet, “spitoons” with flaring rims, and “cake stands”), five polished celt-shaped axes in mint condition, and a large grooved grinding slab. The discovery of two Greek pottery sherds—identified by P.E. Corbett of the British Museum as Attic black-glazed ware of the fourth or fifth century B.C.—is treated as the article’s most important finding, providing a terminus ante quem for the late phase of the Malayan Neolithic at this site.
The remaining sections report on finds in Kedah (cone-shaped clay objects of possible ritual significance at Bukit Kaplu), Kelantan (Mesolithic tools and a human skeleton under limestone slabs at Gua Chah), Pahang (a stone quoit and a possible T’ang-period jar from the Tui Gold Mine), Perak (a Neolithic domestic tragedy at Gua Harimau where a fallen slab killed a child, with bones sent to Oxford for examination), and Selangor (cord-marked pottery at Batu Caves). The article is explicitly provisional, with Williams-Hunt noting that space constraints have prevented full treatment of the Perlis material and that a complete account is hoped for in a subsequent publication.
Key Findings
- Two Greek pottery sherds from Bukit Tengku Lembu, Perlis, were identified by P.E. Corbett (British Museum) as Attic black-glazed ware, dated to the fourth century B.C. (with a possible fifth-century dating not excluded), providing the first external chronological reference point for the Malayan Neolithic (pp. 187–188).
- A Neolithic stone adze measuring 13 × 3 × 11¼ inches, recovered by M.J. and Lady Patricia Hayward at Bukit Tengku Lembu, is believed to be the largest yet recovered from Malaya (p. 187).
- The Bukit Tengku Lembu site yielded traces of three Neolithic burials (two adults and a child aged approximately eight years), over one hundred pottery vessels, five polished celt-shaped axes in mint condition, and a large grooved grinding slab (pp. 186–187).
- At Gua Harimau, Perak, a fallen limestone slab was found to have killed a child (aged approximately 10–12 years) who was preparing a meal, representing a Neolithic domestic accident rather than a burial; the fragmentary remains were sent to the Department of Human Anatomy, Oxford University (p. 184).
- Approximately thirty cone-shaped clay objects, each about fourteen inches in height, decorated with cord markings and pierced by two or three holes, were recovered from Bukit Kaplu, Kedah; their function remains speculative, with Williams-Hunt suggesting possible ritual significance in association with Buddhism (p. 182).
- A human skeleton laid under thin limestone slabs was observed partially exposed at Gua Chah (Sungei Nenggiri), Kelantan, on 15 June 1951, and was covered pending full excavation scheduled for 1952 (p. 183).
Conclusion
Williams-Hunt’s definitive takeaway is that the Greek sherds, while not proving the Malayan Neolithic is as early as the fifth century B.C., establish that the late phase of the Neolithic represented at Bukit Tengku Lembu is unlikely to be earlier than that date—thereby providing, for the first time, an approximate chronological framework for a period that had previously been entirely undated. The article also implicitly argues for the urgent need to protect cave sites from guano extraction, as the destruction of sites like Gua Berangin (described as “almost wholly destroyed”) demonstrates the irreversible loss of archaeological evidence.
Context
- Williams-Hunt was a colonial administrative officer (Adviser on Aborigines) who assumed the additional role of Acting Director of Museums in early 1951; the report is framed as an official government publication and all material is deposited in state or federal museums under his authority.
- The study draws exclusively on field collections made by Williams-Hunt and his staff during 1951, with specialist identifications from the British Museum (Greek pottery) and Oxford University (human remains); it represents the standard format of a colonial-era annual archaeological report rather than a research article with a developed argument.