Journal of the Federated Malay States museums - Sabrizain.org

[. Evans: Cave Exploration, Lenggotig, Pcrak. 233
yet their shape is peculiar, and their material— a black.
mied rock, seemingly similar to that of the lastdescribed
specimen— is not. as far as I know, found in the
d of tlu- caves. It seems probable, therefore,
that the two stones were brought to the cave by its inhabitants.
The first, did it shew signs of chipping or ol polishing.
might from its shapi neolithi< -tj i
axe: thi the object, however, appears weathered,
which it would not be, had it been a part of an implement
tin own au.i\ within the cave owing to breakage during
ture; noi would an implement in use shew these
signs when broken and left in such a sheltered position.
I he second specimen is smooth on one side, slightly rough
on the other. It, also, has rather a curious form, and appears
to be of a rock similar to that of the above; here again
I cannot detect any obvious signs of working. Possibly it is a
thin rlake removed from the surface of a water-worn pebble.
Before bringing this paper to a close we have still to deal
with the pottery.
In the bay lirst excavated pottery was met with only
from the surface to a depth of about one foot, or a little more
towards the mouth of the cave, where the deposits were
deepest. Several specimen- were discovered here. Two
of them were seemingly small dishes with circular feet. One-
is of a stout, blackish coloured ware, and includes a part of
the rim ; the other is similar except that the ware has a reddish
tinge. In both instances the feet have been broken ofl and
only their bases remain. Another object which we found is
a small pipkin or water-pot with a roughly tooled pattern on
its bottom and the lower parts of its body. Many fragments
of this ware were encountered. My Malay coolies said that
they thought that pipkins of the same kind were still made in
the Siamese Mala}- States, but that they did not know of any
modern articles similar to the two dishes. Some small pieces
of potterv of other types were also met with, but none of them
were at all remarkable.
In the second bay the pottery found was in small fragments,
and was of the same sort as the pipkin.
1
Let us now see wdiat inferences may be fairly drawn from
tl ts discovered in the caves. It ha- been noted that
the deposit of shells and bone fragments were not of any
ickness, and from this fact we may conclude that the
caves were either inhabited for a comparatively short
period of time, or that they were only used at
that the old.-st deposit's are. therefore, fairly am
intervals, and
There is, I think, sufficient evidence to warrant oui saying
that some of the former dwellers in the caves understood tin
working of stone by chipping, and used stone implements; for
two true implements were discovered, and two which are
probablj so, as well n