Agop Batu Tulug Caves is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

in the Malaysian state of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

and refers to a group of several caves in a steep

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

cliffs in the Kinabatangan district.

Etymology

The name combines words from three languages: ''agop'' in Sungai language means "cave", ''batu'' is the Malay word for "rock", while ' comes from the

Cebuano language Cebuano ( )Cebuano
on Merriam-Webster.com is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken i ...

(carrying the same meaning as in the Sungai language) where it means "to go to sleep" referring to the resting place of the dead.

History

The caves were used 500 to 900 years ago as a burial place with about 125 carved wooden coffins inside. It was divided into three main caves: Agop Sawat (upper cave), Agop Lintanga (middle cave) and Agop Suriba (lower cave). The caves at Agop Sawat and Lintanga contained more than 125 ancient log coffins. All coffins inside the caves were made from ''belian'' ('' Eusideroxylon zwageri'') hardwood, and decorated with carvings of buffalo head, crocodile, house lizard and snake. The carvings reflect the myths and legends of the Kinabatangan people. For example, a crocodile is related to death and the power darkness, while the bugang bird, dog, rooster and deer were friends of their heroes. The coffins resemble different animals associated to the beliefs of the

Orang Sungai The Orang Sungei (Malay language, Malay word for "River People") are a group of Indigenous peoples, indigenous people native to the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Groups of communities live along the rivers of Kinabatangan, Labuk, Kudat, Pitas, Saba ...

but it has also been suggested that they are the coffins of the Chinese who once settled in the area, because Chinese artifacts were found among the remains. It is believed that this type of funeral culture was brought by traders from

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

and

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

to northern

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, since similar wooden coffins were also discovered in these countries. Researchers assumes that about 2,000 such wooden coffins are distributed in the Kinabatangan Valley. Other sites are located in Ulu Segama,

Lahad Datu Lahad Datu () is the capital of the Lahad Datu District in the Dent Peninsula on Tawau Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 27,887 in 2010. The town is surrounded by stretches of cocoa and palm oil plantatio ...

and

Tawau Tawau (), formerly known as Tawao, is the capital of the Tawau District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the third-largest city (or town)While Tawau have a population of more than 100,000 of which is considered city elsewhere in the world it is offic ...

. The cave was discovered in 1984 through an expedition led by P Brietag, the manager of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

estate in Batu Putih of Kinabatangan together with researcher Barbara Harrisson of

Sarawak State Museum The Sarawak State Museum () is the oldest museum in Borneo. It was founded in 1888 and opened in 1891 in a purpose-built building in Kuching, Sarawak. History It has been said that naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace encouraged Charles Brooke, ...

, along with staff from the Sabah Museum. Since 6 July 1996, the caves have been part of the Sabah Museum, responsible for maintenance and upkeep of the ancillary facilities such as toilets, staircase buildings, office buildings and overnight cabins, not to include the scientific support of the caves.

References

External links

Batu Tulug Museum
on etawau.com {{Museums of Malaysia Archaeological sites in Malaysia Caves of Sabah Limestone caves Monuments and memorials in Malaysia Museums in Sabah