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

Abstract

Archaeological and ethnohistorical inquiries into the Ngorek Dayak and culturally related groups formerly or presently occupying vast expanses in the central northern highlands of Borneo and into their funerary and other types of stone monuments have allowed for a reconstruction of their history and a description of their cultural practices, particularly their staged treatment of the dead. A discussion of what "megalithic" means in Borneo suggests that, while monument size, actual use of stone material, and funerary function are not suitable defining criteria, practices of performing various types of monumental works to fulfill various functions are primarily meant to leave durably visible testimonies to wealthy individuals" or family groups" capacity to mobilize large work forces. The lavish redistributive feasts held by these sponsors on such occasions, being both a display of power and a means to gain more prestige, can only make sense in open competitive societies with high spatial and social mobility, in which people are compelled to convert whatever excess wealth they have into social prestige. "Megalithic" activity, therefore, should be regarded here as but one feature among others of a more or less universal and timeless expression of standard social strategies in such types of competitive societies.

The Sa’ban of Borneo and Zomia

“…In 1940 the Sarawak Gazette still referred to those living in the headwaters of the Baram river as "a people who are one of the least civilized in Sarawak" (1940, p. 48). Later observers might justifiably have seen these groups, the Sa'ban or the Ngurek (see Sellato, 2016), as the remnants of formerly expansive groups, reduced by famine, epidemics and war. There has been little attempt to explain the persistence of identities like the Sa'ban, Tring or Ngurek.…”

“…They live in the highlands on the border amid a collection of smaller ethnic groups. In fact, in his elaboration of Zomia, Scott himself draws on accounts of Borneo societies written by scholars such as Tsing (1994), Zawawi (2008) and Sellato (2002Sellato ( , 2016.…”

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

“…Ongoing research in the southern Kelabit Highlands suggests that "there seems every reason to believe that human occupation in the Kelabit Highlands stretches far beyond the Metal Age, the beginning of which in Borneo is commonly dated to between c. 500 BC and AD 0" (Barker et al, 2008, p. 179). Whether those humans were all people that would now be considered Kelabit is also a source of speculation; it is possible that they were Ngurik (or Ngorek, Ngurek or Murik) (see Mashman, 2017, Sellato, 2016, a small subgroup of Kenyah (Jalong, 1989), though Rousseau says that "the ancestors of the present-day Murik were Kelabitic" and that their language is considered Kayanic (Blust, 1974). What is not contested is that Kelabit now consider the Kelabit Highlands to be their homeland, despite the conflicting speculations on their origin, and the cultural contiguity with the Kerayan Highlands across the Indonesian border in Kalimantan.…”

“…While much of interior Borneo may appear to outsiders as "untouched," numerous cultural sites are still visible in the landscape, and they have deep cultural significance of them to people living in these areas today (for more in-depth recent descriptions of these sites see Hitchner, 2008, Hitchner et al, 2009Bulan, 2003;Sellato, 2016;Gani, 2019, andhistorical descriptions such as Schneeberger 1945;Keith 1947;Harrisson, 1958aHarrisson, , 1958bHarrisson, , 1959Harrisson, , 1962Harrisson, , 1973. Although the area of Kelabit Highlands, on the Malaysian side of the international border, is relatively small in size (~2500 km²), as is its population (~1500), this landscape is highly anthropogenic and contains a substantial number of megaliths, landscape modifications, and other cultural sites.…”

“…Although the area of Kelabit Highlands, on the Malaysian side of the international border, is relatively small in size (~2500 km²), as is its population (~1500), this landscape is highly anthropogenic and contains a substantial number of megaliths, landscape modifications, and other cultural sites. Although megaliths can be found in Indonesian Kalimantan (made by groups closely related to Kelabit), and to a lesser degree in the Sarawak River delta area and in Sabah (Sellato, 2016;Phelan, 1997;Harrisson, 1958b;Keith, 1947), the area of the Kelabit Highlands contains a particularly dense assemblage of megaliths and has been called a "megazone of megalithic activity" (Harrisson, 1959, p. 14). The megaliths in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak and the Kerayan Highlands of Kalimantan resemble those in other areas of Southeast Asia, including Peninsular Malaysia, particularly in Malaka and Negri Sembilan (Harrisson, 1958;Harrisson, 1962), and on the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra (Von Koenigswald, 1962), and there are also similarities to megaliths in Europe, Melanesia, and other parts of Asia (Eliade, 1979).…”