Social science research and conservation management in the ...

11.
Archaeological survey and
research in four subdistricts
of interior East Kalimantan
(Pujungan, Kerayan, Malinau
and Kayan Hulu)
Karina Arifin and Bernard Sellato 1
with reports by Aryandini Novita, Krisprihartini S.,
Dody Johanjaya, Anggara Yonathan
and Yoga Prima Subandono
INTRODUCTION
A number of megalithic structures are found on the upper reaches of the Bahau River
and along its tributaries, in Pujungan Subdistrict. They consist primarily of urn-dolmen
burial monuments. According to the Kenyah who now inhabit this area, these megalithic
structures were erected by the Ngorek (see Sellato 1992b, 1995c). From historical
reconstructions by Sellato, it is surmised that the Ngorek originally came from the
upper Baram River in Sarawak. War with the Kelabit peoples finally forced some of the
Ngorek to move to East Kalimantan in approximately 1700 AD. By about 1750, the
Ngorek are believed to have occupied the area of the upper Lurah and upper Bahau
rivers. By the middle of the 18th century, a coalition of Modang, Kayan, and Kenyah
groups attacked the Ngorek. Some of the Ngorek were defeated and taken away by
their conquerors far from their area of origin, and the rest fled and scattered. Today
1 Karina Arifin compiled the sections titled ‘Survey of Megalithic Sites in Four Districts’ and ‘Test Pits
in Long Pujungan Subdistrict’ (on the basis of her own research), and ‘Megalithic Graves: A Summary’;
while Bernard Sellato contributed data from his survey in Kayan Hulu Subdistrict and rewrote the
sections titled ‘Inventory of Stone Grave Sites on the Upper Bahau’ (based on a report by Dody
Johanjaya, Anggara Yonathan, and Yoga Prima Subandono) and ‘Analysis of Artefacts Found in Apau
Ping’ (based on a report by Aryandini Novita and Krisprihartini). For more comprehensive data, see
Karina Arifin 1995, Dody Johanjaya et al. 1995, Aryandini Novita and Krisprihartini 1995.