IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Cranbrook, E. | |
| The zooarchaeology of carnivores in Borneo, with a proposal for continuing collection | |
| 2016 Raffles bulletin of Zoology (33): 9-17 | |
Excavations in the Borneo states of Malaysia, notably but not solely at Niah caves, Sarawak, have provided samples of the mammals that lived over the past 50,000 years, confirming close relations with a wider Sundaic subregional fauna. Most attention has been paid to the abundant remains of primates, pigs and perissodactyls. Carnivore zooarchaeology is less rich. While 17 species have been recognised positively, most specimens are identifiable only to family (e.g., civet [Viverridae] or cat [Felidae]), or genus (e.g., mongoose Herpestes). Through a period of climate change, records of species such as sun bear _Helarctos malayanus_ and _binturong Arctictis binturong_ reinforce evidence that a forest refugium persisted in northern Borneo. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), a central zone of savannah separated forest-adapted carnivores of the east and west of the Sunda subregion. Post LGM, the land link was finally severed by rising sea levels about 10,000 years ago. Unexpected discoveries were three osteological specimens of tiger _Panthera tigris _dated from about 14,000 years ago to the Metal Age. Among small carnivores, a mixed assemblage suggests incidental additions to the diet of human cave visitors in which bearded pig _Sus barbatus_ and primates predominated. Of carnivores, only binturong is represented in numbers indicating directed hunting policy. Within a long tradition of bone tools, projectile tips appeared from the 12th millennium before present. Probably carrying a toxin, their use may account for large carnivores appearing in the zooarchaeological record at this time and was reflected also by an increase in the proportion of arboreal mammals, including civets, among human quarry. No clear identification of carnivores in burials was noted until a 15th century CE funereal cave, where lower jaws suggested that domestic dogs Canis familiaris had been eaten. Metal Age human burials, however, were the source of carnivore teeth bored through the root, notably binturong, Sunda clouded leopard _Neofelis diardi_ and sun bear, showing usage as strung 'beads' or as ear plugs, paralleling modern custom among interior people. A scenario has been proposed linking Mid-Holocene post-cranial remains of a canid, and later undisputed dental remains of domestic dog, to show an early, pre-Neolithic introduction of this companion carnivore to Borneo. Future development of the regional zooarchaeology of carnivores depends on improved comparative collections in museums, for which policies including a programme for the acquisition of road kill specimens would make a useful contribution. |
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