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\ V ^ /J A K U N ORANG \ KANARq JAKUN NEGRITO PROTO MALAY SENOl"Gua Cha is situated at a meeting point of the furthest known geographical extents of the Semang, Senoi and Malay cultures in historical times in that part of Kelantan; while it may be due to pure coincidence or sampling error, it is tempting to see the archaeological findings as evidence of some kind of boundary between foragers (Hoabinhian) and horticulturalists (Neolithic) established already some 3000-4000 years ago. There is little reason to doubt that the Semang and Senoi are the modern descendants of the
population that produced the Gua Cha remains"
That the present Orang Asli are the descendants of the Hoabinhians has gained support from many scholars. As Rambo (1979:61) says:
"The links between prehistoric man and
the present day inhabitants of the Malaysian rain forest, the Aborigines or Orang Asli,
.... . have not yet been traced, but it is
probable that the modern day Negrito and Senoi are descended from the Hoabinhians of the late Pleistocene-beginning Holocene period"
This idea is also discussed in greater detail by Solheim (1980), who suggests that the ancestors of the Semang Negritos and the Senoi were two contemporary Hoabinhian groups living in different niches, the Semang being the des cendants of the coastal Hoabinhians who produced the Guar Kepah shell mounds, while the ancestral Senoi lived in the interior mountain valleys. Archaeologically, the Hoabinhian culture of the interior developed into the Neolithic archaeol ogical culture, with the additional elements being brought in by water moving people who came looking for metal ore
(Solheim 1980:70). The latter people probably also introduced southern Mongoloid genes to the evolving Senoi, thus
explaining the different physical and racial features of the Semang and Senoi today. Furthermore, the change from
ago, a date which, a c c o r d i n g to B e n j a m i n (1976), c o r r e s p o n d s to that for the final b r e a k - u p of the m e s h of c o m m u n i c a t i o n l i n k i n g the n o r t h e r n A s l i a n (Semang) l a n g u a g e s w i t h the c e n t r a l A s l i a n (Senoi) languages.
The q u e s t i o n no w arises, in l o o k i n g at r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n the H o a b i n h i a n - N e o l i t h i c c u l t u r e s and the p r e s e n t
O r a n g Asli, of the c e s s a t i o n of p o t t e r y m a n u f a c t u r e . N e o l i t h i c p o t t e r y has b e e n found in a b u n d a n c e at G u a Ch a and oth e r
M a l a y a n sites, bu t w h e n and w h y its m a n u f a c t u r e c eased is unknown. The O r a n g A s l i have no k n o w l e d g e of p o t t e r y m a k i n g now, and S o l h e i m (1980:72) cites the P o l y n e s i a n parallel, in w h i c h the e a r l y P o l y n e s i a n s m a d e g ood p o t t e r y u n til about A.D. 300, w h e r e u p o n its m a n u f a c t u r e ceased. T h e r e is, as yet, no good e x p l a n a t i o n for this c u l t u r a l loss in e i t h e r area.
F r o m the results of the 1979 excavations, it has b e e n o b s e r v e d t hat there wa s no a p p a r e n t lapse in the
o c c u p a t i o n of the r o c k - s h e l t e r b e t w e e n the H o a b i n h i a n and the Neolithic, as h a d b e e n c l a i m e d by S e i v e k i n g in 1954.
It has also b e e n a r g u e d t hat the H o a b i n h i a n and the N e o l i t h i c c u l t u r e s of Gua C h a w e r e the p r o d u c t s of the same people, and t hat the p r e h i s t o r y of Gua C h a and o t h e r sites w i t h s i m ilar r e m ains is b a s i c a l l y that of the O r a n g Asli. The I n d i a n i s e d c i v i l i z a t i o n s and m a r i t i m e trade of co a s t a l M a l a y a h a d no real i mpact in this p a r t of the Peninsula, and n e i t h e r had the
Abbreviations:
AP Asian Perspectives
APAO Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania
BRM Bulletin Raffles Museum
3CPFE - Proceedings of the Third Congress of the Prehistorians of the Far East FMJ Federation Museums Journal
JFMSM - Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums
JMBRAS - Journal of the Malaysian Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, or
Journal of the Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society
JSBRAS - Journal of the Straits Branch, Royal Asiatic Society
MQRSEA Modern Quaternary Research in Southeast Asia
B I B L I O G R A P H Y