An Early Date from a Stone Mound (Perupun) in The Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak.


 

THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL
VOL LXX NO.91 DECEMBER 2012

 
 
Title : 
An Early Date from a Stone Mound (Perupun) in The Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak.

Author : 
Lindsay Lloyd-Smith

Abstract:
One of the most impressive types of monuments in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak is the large stone mound or perupun. So far, seventeen have been recorded at locations across the highlands, from Long Repun in the north, to Batu Patong in the south (Barker et al., 2008; Cluny and Chai, 2007; Hitchner, 2009). They are also known outside of the highlands area proper; at Long Peluan to the south (Valeria Mashman pers. comm., 25 July 2012), as well as reports of similar monuments around Long Bawang (where they are called terupun) over the border range in Kalimantan Indonesian (Arifin and Selato, 2003: 206-207). The mounds are circular to oval in plan and range in size from a few metres in diameter and under a metre high,comprising fewer than one hundred stones, to truly gigantic monuments over 25 metres across and several metres high, with probably over one thousand stones. The stones themselves are river rolled, and range in size from small pebbles (< 10 cm) to large boulders (50-70 cm) that would have needed several people to move.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61507/smj22-2012-MC78-07


How to cite:
Lindsay Lloyd-Smith. (2012). An Early Date from a Stone Mound (Perupun) in The Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LXX (91): 117-126

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