French-Indonesian archaeological research
On July, 8, 2024, Antonio Guerreiro gave a presentation at the “European Roundtable on Southeast Asian Archaeology: Current Research and Perspectives”held at the Institut national d’histoire de l’art in Paris (France). Based on fieldwork in carried out in the Berau region from 2011 to 2014, and revisited in 2018, he addressed Lebbo’s cosmology and shamanism.
Former members of the MAFBO project published the results of the excavations carried out in the Liang Abu site in 2009 and 2012, in the Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. The paper can be accessed:
In recent decades, East Borneo has become an increasingly important archaeological “hot-spot” in Island Southeast Asia as a result of early dates for rock art ca. 38,000 BP and the greater number of excavated sites that support a much longer period of human occupation. However, the chronology of settlement and adaptation to environmental changes during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition is still poorly known. Here we report on an excavation at the Liang Abu rock shelter which has contexts dating from the Late Pleistocene (12,660 ± 58 uncal. BP) to the present day, indicating a terminus ante quem (TAQ) for human occupation at 23,790 BP. We present the results of an attempt to systematically integrate and compare data from Liang Abu and Kimanis, a geographically close site with a previously published sequence. Particular attention is paid to post-depositional issues in tropical settings and to data compatibility, reuse, and reproducibility, relying on open-source software for data processing (R scripts) and Bayesian chronological modeling. Two Bayesian models are built and compared using the ChronoModel software, which can handle outliers and uncertainty (e.g., freshwater reservoir effect). This first inter-site comparison for Borneo results in a new chronology of human settlement and mainland–coastal interactions in East Borneo and paves the way for future regional synthesis.
S. Plutniak recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science a methodological paper about archaeological refitting, entitled “The Strength of Parthood Ties. Modelling Spatial Units and Fragmented Objects with the TSAR Method – Topological Study of Archaeological Refitting”. This research was developped from stratigraphic issues we faced at Liang Abu during the 2012 excavations. The paper can be downloaded:
The 2021 conference of the European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS) was held in Olomuc, Czech Republic, from the 7th to the 10th September.
The panel “Between Heritage and Colonial Representations: Early Photography in Borneo”, organised by Antonio Guerreiro, included four presentations related to Borneo:
The panel will showcase the salient aspects of early photography in Borneo, in the former British (Sarawak, Sabah), and Dutch colonial areas (Kalimantan), c. 1870s – 1920s. A first step will be identifying the individuals active in the field and their practice of photography. Charles Hose (1863-1929) as a cadet, then Resident, was the most notable administrative
officer in the Brooke Raj who was involved in pioneering ethnographic studies and photography. Between 1884 and 1907, he was posted in out-stations, in the Baram and the Rejang. The panel will outline the different uses of photography and more generally, illustration, in Charles Hose’s main publications, including the style of the captions. The relation between photography and ethnographic and natural history collecting, will be stressed. Besides cultural heritage (tangible, i.e material culture, and its intangible dimensions), the exotic as expressed in landscapes, animal life and portraits, features prominently in the images from this period. Dayak/Punan/Penan/Murut indigenous peoples and fauna and flora have been the most popular subjects of photographers. A mapping of the categories of representations in order to focus on the colonial gaze in Borneo will be provided. The panel will address as well the historical context at the time: the colonial presence and ‘ethnographic expeditions’ taking place in central Borneo, a region spread between Sarawak and Kalimantan, Indonesia (known then as ‘Dutch Borneo’). Another famous photographer, Jean Demmeni (1866-1939), participated in A. W. Nieuwenhuis’ three expeditions taking place across West and East Borneo, between 1896 and 1900. Hose intensively practiced photography during his postings in the Baram and the Rejang areas (circa 1895 – 1907,1920). Besides Charles Hose and Jean Demmeni, other photographers were active in Borneo during this period (inter alia Evans, Funk, Furness, Grubauer, Haddon, Harrisson-Smith, Martin and Osa Johnson, Mjöberg, Tillema, Woolley). Besides so-called ‘scientific photography’, used to support academic texts and explorations, another photographic type which has been overlooked, i.e. postcards with exotic and romantic connotations, will be considered. In short, early photography besides engravings or drawings – actually the former often made after photographs – had a significant role in the shaping of Borneo’s ‘culturescape’ during the 20th century.
Last december, the “Maison Asie-Pacifique”, a research centre located in Marseille, France, organised an exhibition entitled “Asie-Pacifique: itinéraires de recherche” for its 20th anniversary.
Antonio Guerreiro participated to this exhibition with a poster about the transmission of shamanic knowledge among the Lebbo’ people. The Lebbo’ people live in the Sankulirang karstic area, including in Merabu village, where we settled during our survey and excavation at the Liang Abu rock-shelter. In 2014, we recorded a video of Pak Kuling, telling the story of Belian Danyam to a young audience in Merabu.
Belian Danyam, literally “the young shaman” is the cultural hero of the Lebbo’. The memory of this hero has been kept alive until today among the villagers…
From 2011 to 2016, the MAFBO (French Archaeological Project in Borneo) project has investigated the chronology of human occupation and its technological development in East Kalimantan since the Late Pleistocene/early Holocene. This project was in strong collaboration with several Indonesian institutions (National Centre for Archaeology, Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology), which led to 28 scientific publications, 49 conferences, and more than 50 events to the general public. During this time the project expanded its initial focus and problematic to exploring the population movements and histories from and to Indonesia across the Indian Ocean and Pacific region.
The new scientific and cooperation developed by MAFBO, led the project and its team to shift its focus to another region nearby: the New Guinea island, and specifically the territory which corresponds to actual Papua New Guinea.
For this reason, our fieldwork research in Borneo stops and new ones started in Papua New Guinea. However, despite this shift toward east, our publication work about Borneo is still ongoing and the publication of this blog will be maintained with a focus on research news on Borneo archaeology. Continuer la lecture de « From Borneo to New Guinea: Field research in East Kalimantan are finish, publishing continues, and new fieldwork starts in Papua New Guinea »
On Friday 8th September, the Musée du Quay Branly in Paris will host an international conference on “Bornéo. Dernière Terra Incognita ?”
Continuer la lecture de « Conference on Borneo in Paris (8/9/2017) »
The proceedings of the “Southeast Asia: Human Evolution, Dispersals and Adaptation” session held in 2014 in Burgos (IUSPP Conference) have been published in a special issue of Quaternary International.
MAFBO’s team members offered two contributions, concerning respectively lithic and pottery materials: Continuer la lecture de « New publications: Quaternary International issue about Southeast Asia Prehistory »
MAFBO’s member Francois-Xavier Ricaut supervised a study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution showing that the Banjar of South Kalimantan are at the origin of the Austronesian settlement off the eastern coast of Africa 1000 years ago. Continuer la lecture de « New publication: F.-X. Ricaut published a new study, the Banjar in the Indian Ocean »
The International Symposium on Austronesian Diaspora will be held in Bali from the 18th to 23rd July 2016. The MAFBO team members will present five scientific communications focusing on different research topics within the project. Continuer la lecture de « MAFBO participation to the International Symposium on Austronesian Diaspora (Bali) »
Conférence de Antonio Guerrreiro à l’auditorium de l’Institut Français d’Indonésie (IFI) à Jakarta, le 1er juin 2016, de 17h30 à 19h. Continuer la lecture de « Conference: “Cultural and Natural Heritage in the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Karst Range of East Kalimantan (Indonesia): Policies and Conservation Efforts” »
The 5th and 6th of April the French-Indonesian Cooperation Meeting will take place at the University of La Rochelle (France). During this meeting several topics will be discussed (see the program): Continuer la lecture de « MAFBO participation to the Joint Working Group for French-Indonesian Cooperation »
I came to Indonesia as a student of tropical ecology in 1992. After graduating I came back with a job to travel across all parts of Borneo and map the distribution of orangutans and other mammal species. Between 2000 and 2004 I conducted my PhD research in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University. My research focused on trying to explain the distribution of Indo-Malayan mammals, combining zoo-archaeology, genetics, morphometrics, and reviews of palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographical studies.
En 1992, je venais pour la première fois en Indonésie en tant qu’étudiant en écologie tropicale. Après avoir obtenu ma licence, j’ai obtenu un emploi qui m’a permis d’y revenir afin de cartographier la distribution des orang-outans et d’autres mammifères dans tous les recoins de Bornéo. Entre 2000 et 2004, j’ai effectué ma recherche doctorale au département d’archéologie et d’anthropologie de l’Australian National University. Il s’agissait d’expliquer la distribution des mammifères indo-malais en associant des analyses zoo-archéologiques, génétiques, morphométriques à une revue des littératures paléoenvironnementale et paléogéographique.
I am not sure. I somehow ended up in Indonesia, loved being here, and never looked back. You can’t study mammals in this region without worrying about their conservation, so automatically I transitioned into more conservation-focused research.
Je ne sais pas trop. J’ai atterri en Indonésie, ai aimé y être, et n’ai jamais regardé en arrière. On ne peut pas étudier les mammifères
dans cette région sans se sentir concerné par leur préservation : mécaniquement, je me suis ensuite orienté vers des recherches plus appliquées à leur conservation.
Since 2011, I have coordinated the Borneo Futures initiative, together with Dr Marc Ancrenaz, my long-term French collaborator in conservation science (and fellow wine drinker). Borneo Futures coordinates a research network of some 20 active scientists, who all focus on science that informs land-use and natural resource use decision-making. There are many possible futures for Borneo, but some are much better than others and benefit more people. Clarifying what the economics and politics of those futures could look like helps politician make better choices and informs the broader public about the choices that they have.
Je dirige depuis 2011 le projet Borneo Futures en compagnie de Marc Ancrenaz, de longue date mon collaborateur (et bon compagnon de boisson). Ce projet coordonne un réseau d’environ vingt chercheurs actifs, tous penchés sur les politiques et les pratiques relatives aux terres et aux ressources naturelles. Il y a bien des chemins possibles pour le futur de Bornéo, mais certains sont meilleurs que d’autres et seront plus profitable au peuple. Clarifier ce que pourraient être ces différentes perspectives sur les plans économiques et politiques contribue à aider les décideurs dans leurs choix et à informer le public des différents choix qui s’offrent à eux.
I am only tangentially engaged with archaeological research in Borneo, through my interest in trying to understand the weird and wonderful word of Indo-Malayian mammals, but I don’t really know what is happening. One thing I do know is that there is a lot left to explore. I have seen many caves in different parts of Borneo that would definitely have had people in them at some stage, but which have never been studies. Much new information remains to be discovered.
Je ne sais pas trop ce qui s’y fait, et ne suis qu’incidemment investit dans la recherche archéologique à Bornéo, puisque je cherche avant tout à comprendre l’étrange et merveilleux monde des mammifères indo-malais. Une chose que je sais, c’est qu’il reste énormément à découvrir. J’ai vu de nombreuses grottes dans différentes régions de Bornéo qui n’ont jamais été étudiées mais qui ont dû très certainement abriter des hommes à une époque ou à une autre. Beaucoup de nouvelles choses restent à être découvertes.
I think studies of anthropology and archaeology can help people understand how special the place is they live in, and help them value the historical and cultural context in which they grew up. It is hard to value something that people do not know exists. If people in the Sangkulirang area knew that 18,000 years ago there were already people living in the area, creating works of art, they might be more likely to think twice before allowing those limestone areas to be turned into cement. Studies of anthropology and archaeology can help create a sense of pride and ownership among Borneo’s people that is presently being eroded by rapid societal and environmental changes that people think they can’t control. But people have a voice and can control their future. Understanding the past helps shape this voice.
Je pense que les recherches archéologiques et anthropologiques peuvent aider les gens à comprendre la spécificité des lieux où ils vivent et à estimer la valeur historique et culturelle de l’endroit où ils ont grandit. Il est difficile d’estimer quelque chose dont chacun ignore l’existence. Si les gens de Sangkulirang savaient qu’il y a 18 000 ans d’autres personnes vivaient déjà dans cette région et réalisaient des œuvres d’art, il est fort probable qu’il réfléchiraient à deux fois avant d’autoriser la transformation de cette région karstique en ciment. Les recherches archéologiques et anthropologiques contribuent à créer un sentiment de fierté et de propriété chez les gens de Bornéo, lequel a été érodé par les bouleversements sociaux et environnementaux sur lesquels ils pensent n’avoir aucun contrôle. Mais les gens ont une voix et peuvent prendre en main leur futur. Comprendre le passé aide à constituer cette voix.
Personally I am very excited about the cave paintings in both Borneo and Sulawesi. They provide such powerful and tangible messages from the past. As a side-job I chair the IUCN/SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group, and I think it is totally cool that the oldest cave painting in the world depicts… a pig.
J’ai été, personnellement, très enthousiasmé par la découverte des peintures rupestres à Bornéo et à Célèbes. Ils livrent un message du passé si tangible et puissant. À côté de mon travail, je siège, à l’IUCN/SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group, et je trouve super que la plus vieille peinture rupestre du monde représente… un cochon.
Erik Meijaard, August 2015.
Traduction : Sébastien Plutniak
Participation: 2014-
Pradiptajati Kusuma, often called Pai, is a population geneticist and he is a research assistant in Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Jakarta. Pai works on various ethnic populations in Indonesia in respect to molecular anthropology and human evolution studies. He focuses on utilizing genomic data to understand how human demography, migration, and dispersal of language and diseases, shape genetic diversity in populations across the archipelago.
He is now working on Borneo populations, tracing the source of historical human migration through Indian Ocean that settled Madagascar. He is currently enrolled in doctoral program at Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse, Université Paul Sabatier – Toulouse III, France, under direct supervision of Dr. François-Xavier Ricaut.
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Pradiptajati Kusuma, ou Pai, est généticien des populations et assistant de recherche au Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, à Jakarta. Dans les perspectives de l’anthropologie moléculaire et des études de l’évolution humaine, Pai étudie diverses populations ethniques en Indonésie. À partir des données génétiques, il cherche à éclairer la manière dont démographie humaine, les migrations, la diffusion des langues et des maladies, déterminent la diversité génétique dans l’archipel indonésien.
Il s’intéresse actuellement aux populations de Bornéo, cherchant à retracer les flux migratoires, traversant l’Océan Indien, qui constituèrent la population de Madagascar. Il poursuit ce travail en tant que doctorant au Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse, Université Paul Sabatier – Toulouse III, France, sous la direction de François-Xavier Ricaut.
MAFBO’s member Antonio Guerreiro co-authored with Nicolas Césard and Antonia Soriente a book entitled Petualangan Unjung dan Mbui Kuvong: Sastra Lisan dan Kamus Punan Tuvu’ dari Kalimantan (The Adventurous Unjung and The Tale of Mbui Kuvong. Oral Literature and Punan Tuvu’-Indonesian Dictionary from Kalimantan).
Antonio Guerreiro (membre de la MAFBO) et ses co-auteurs Nicolas Césard et Antonia Soriente, ont récemment publié un livre intitulé Petualangan Unjung dan Mbui Kuvong: Sastra Lisan dan Kamus Punan Tuvu’ dari Kalimantan (Unjung l’aventureuse et le conte de Kuvong. Littérature orale et dictionnaire Punan Tuvu’ – Indonésien de Kalimantan).
Sembilan kisah yang menjadi bagian dari buku Petualangan Unjung dan Mbui Kuvong, memberikan suatu ringkasan tentang kekayaan sastra lisan suku Punan Tuvu’ dari Kalimantan Utara.
Seringkali penuh dengan kiasan, kisah-kisah yang disebut mbui ini tergolong dongeng, legenda, dan mitos, yang dimiliki suku Punan Tuvu’ dan diwariskan dari generasi ke generasi sejak dahulu kala.
Mbui membicarakan tokoh-tokoh atau tempat-tempat yang merupakan bagian dari kebudayaan Punan. Dengan adanya keprihatinan bahwa bahasa Punan Tuvu’, sebagaimana terjadi di tempat lain di indonesia dan di dunia, akan punah berikut semua pengetahuan, nilai, kearifan lokal yang dikandungnya, maka buku ini merupakan usaha untuk mengumpulkan, merekam dan menulis kembali cerita-cerita tersebut sebagai usaha dokumentasi bahasa dan budaya.
Dongeng dan mitos Punan menceritakan kepada kita tentang sebuah masa ketika manusia, tumbuhan, dan hewan hidup erat berdekatan satu dengan yang lain, suatu masa yang tidak terlalu lampau ketika suku Punan yang masih mengembara mendiami hutan lebat di bagian hulu sungai di Kalimantan sebelum kemudian tinggal di tepi sungai besar.
Kisah-kisah itu menggambarkan dan terinspirasi dari kehidupan sehari-hari yang mulai ditinggalkan sedikit demi sedikit oleh para keluarga Punan dari Sungai Tubu dan Malinau, karena mereka mulai menetap, kemudian hidup lebih ke bagian hilir dan menjauhi hutan serta isinya.
Kisah-kisah itu juga mengingatkan akan masa lampau yang saat ini diidamkan oleh mereka yang pernah mengenalnya. masa lampau yang aturannya ditaati, dan juga tempat para anggota kelompok bertemu di malam hari untuk berbagi kisah petualangan mereka dan petualangan para leluhur merekaBuku ini ditujukan terutama kepada generasi muda Punan, yang secara tradisional merupakan tujuan kisah-kisah tersebut, dan juga kepada mereka yang lebih tua yang mungkin mencoba mencari tahu kembali dengan membaca kisah itu dan dengan membandingkannya dengan versi terjemahannya dalam bahasa indonesia
