Archaeological investigations in the Niah Caves, Sarawak, 1954-2004

This book is the companion volume to Rainforest Foraging and Farming in Island Southeast Asia: the Archaeology of the Niah Caves, Sarawak. Together they present the results of new fieldwork in the caves and new studies of finds from earlier excavations, a project that has involved a team of over 70 archaeologists and geographers. Rainforest Foraging and Farming told the story of human activity in the caves over the past 50,000 years and how that story throws light on the history of our species in Island Southeast Asia from the time when modern humans first arrived to recent centuries. Archaeological Investigations in the Niah Caves describes the very wide range of methodologies used by the project to collect its evidence, and the key information from those studies about the changing nature of the rainforest over the past 50,000 years and how it sustained the lives of the people who used the caves for shelter or burying their dead. Together, these volumes affirm the unique importance of the Niah Caves for world heritage.