Tikus purbakala: a guide for zooarchaeologists on the Identification of rats from borneo cave excavations by Dental characters


 

THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL
VOL LXXIV NO.95 JUNE 2015
 
 
Title : 
Tikus purbakala: a guide for zooarchaeologists on the Identification of rats from borneo cave excavations by Dental characters
Author : 
Earl of Cranbrook and Philip J. Piper
Abstract:
The existing mammal fauna of Borneo includes 26 named species of the rodent family Muridae, subfamily Murinae (Emmons 1993; Payne & Francis, 2005; Maryanto & Sinaga, 2008; Achmadi et al., 2012). Of these, 19 middle-sized to large species belong to genera formerly grouped within the single genus Rattus by regional systematists including Chasen (1940), and Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1951). Now divided among six genera, Lenothrix, Leopoldamys, Sundamys, Maxomys, Rattus and Niviventer (Wilson & Reeder, 2005), these species (Table 1) are collectively regarded as ‘rats’ for present purposes: tikus in Bahasa Malaysia.

Huge numbers of whole and fragmentary animal bones and teeth have been recovered in archaeological investigations of Borneo eaves by the Sarawak Museum, notably the famous excavations at Niah (Harrisson, 1958, 1959; Barker et al., 2007; Piper & Rabbet, 2013). These assemblages of animal remains are mainly the result of two non-exclusive processes of accumulation: (1) the natural deposition of carcases of bats, rats, swiftlets and other cave roosting species that emerge to find resources to support their existence (termed ‘trogloxenes’), or the remains of visiting individuals of species that inhabit the surroundings but also enter caves to exploit the resources of this environment (‘troglophiles’); and (2) human activity, depositing in the cave mouth whole or parts of animal remains originally brought there as food, for tool manufacture and use,or other purposes.The second process produces material of prime interest to anthropologists and prehistorians but, for the biologist and palaeoecologist, the occurrence of troglophiles among animal remains provides valuable information on the contemporary environment outside the cave.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61507/smj22-2015-JJ91-01
How to cite:
Earl of Cranbrook and Philip J. Piper (2015). Tikus Purbakala: A Guide for Zooarchaeologists on The Identification of Rats from Borneo Cave Excavations by Dental Characters. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LXXIV (95) : 1-37
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