Reading Human Activity in the Landscape

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“…There is evidence of further use of these tools as pestles and grinders as well as evidence of chipping and deliberate flake removals. I will argue below that these additional uses are not likely prehistoric but have occurred in their renewed life as batu perahit (Janowski and Barton, 2012), after rediscovery by Kelabit and Lundayeh. Figures 1,4 and 5 show the typical form of the cupped end and the typical wear that is visible by eye on the study sample.…”

“…This paper provides a review and discussion of a category of stone tools unique to the highland interior of Borneo that have been variously classified as specialised tools for processing sago (Collings, 1949;Harrisson, 1951aHarrisson, , 1951b, or as tools for cracking hard-shelled nuts (Sellato, 1996). Amongst the indigenous communities of the Borneo highlands, these implements are frequently classified as batu perahit, 'thunderstones' or 'dragon's teeth' (Janowski and Barton, 2012): items that have not existed in the living memory of these communities, but have now re-entered the human realm, imbued with supernatural agency and referred to by the Kelabit and Lundayeh people as lalud, or life force (Janowski and Barton, 2012;Janowski, 2020). As an object with a living history, some of these tools have been all of these things at one time, or, in their current role, one thing in all times.…”

“…The tools discussed here were collected in the field by Tom Harrisson (the original curator of the Sarawak Museum from 1947to 1966 or sent to the museum on his request (Harrisson, 1951a). At the time of their collection, locals who discovered them had no knowledge of their age or function and regarded them as items created by spirits or natural forces in past times (Janowski and Barton, 2012;Janowski, 2020). These tools are polished, tapered cylinders of stone with a smooth concavity or cup at one end, and a flat, rounded or ridged decoration on the butt (Fig.…”

Traversing Sacred Stones in the Heart of Borneo: Transboundary Ecotourism Through the Megalithic Landscapes of the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysia and the Kerayan Highlands of Kalimantan, Indonesia

“…By 2005, the Kelabit community was keenly aware of the importance of documenting cultural sites in the landscape. Some of these sites included: megaliths such as binatuh (graveyards); lungun belanai (grave sites with Chinese burial jars); batuh nawi (hollowed stone burial urns); landscape modifications such as kawang (notches cut into tree lines on ridge tops), nabang (ditches cut into the ground or through ridge tops), taka (oxbows of rivers); ruma' ma'un (old longhouse sites); and other areas of cultural importance such as main tudtu' (salt springs), rupan (swampy areas where animals come to drink), ra'an (mountain passes), and lubang (caves); and megalithic structures which are a distinctive feature of Kelabit culture, such as batuh sinuped (menhirs or erected stones), batuh narit (carved stones), batuh nangan (dolmens or stone "tables"), and perupun (large rock piles) (see Bala, 2002;Bulan, 2003;Hitchner, 2009aHitchner, , 2009bHitchner, , 2010Janowski & Barton, 2012;Jones et al, 2016). Archeologist Lindsay Lloyd-Smith notes that recent findings about megalithic monuments in the Kelabit Highlands "seem to indicate a widespread cultural tradition that flourished around 2,000 years ago, during the Early Metal Age" (cf.…”

The Ngorek of the Central Highlands and ‘Megalithic’ Activity in Borneo

“…Stone tools were discovered in abundance, as surface finds, under houses in the village of Apau Ping. These stone tools are called batu nggau ("lightning stones") by the Kenyah residents, who believe them to be the lightning"s teeth/fangs, found at the foot of trees struck by lightning (a belief common through Borneo; see Hose and McDougall 1966: II, 11 n3;Peranio 1959;McCredie 1981;Sellato 1983;Janowski and Barton 2012). Some are commonly kept in Kenyah granaries to invite the rice goddess" blessings.…”