Archaeological Investigations at the Trader's Cave,Niah National Park: Reports on the Second and Third (2018 & 2019) Field Seasons

Archaeological excavations at Trader's Cave, Niah National Park, reveal significant untapped potential for understanding the region's prehistoric and environmental history. The cave, the second largest in the park, has remained largely unexplored since brief 1956 excavations by Tom and Barbara Harrisson, whose work focused on nearby Niah Great Cave Complex (NGCC). This study, spanning three field seasons from 2017 to 2019, marks the first systematic archaeological investigation within Trader's Cave, uncovering new insights into its palaeoenvironmental and human occupation history. The research employs a combination of stratigraphic excavation, sediment analysis, and speleological mapping to assess the cave's archaeological layers, which hold promise for advancing knowledge of Southeast Asia's prehistoric landscapes and human adaptations.

bin Suffi, Mohd. S., Curnoe, D., Goh Mei, H., Sun, X.-f., W. Paul, J., R. Cohen, D., Sombroek, H., McDowell, M., Peiris, R., Slack, M., Magalhaes, C., Soares, R., Ali, H., & Jami, M. (2019). Archaeological Investigations at the Trader’s Cave,Niah National Park: Reports on the Second and Third (2018 & 2019) Field Seasons. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LXXXII(103), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.61507/smj22-2019-877t-02