Skull Hill, Malaysia, Archaeological hill site near Semporna, Malaysia.
Skull Hill (Bukit Tengkorak) is an archaeological hill site on Tampi Tampi Road, about 10 kilometres south of Semporna town in Sabah. It is a volcanic rock-shelter site forming part of a volcano mouth roughly 2 kilometres in diameter, surrounded by isolated hills and mountains that are mostly extinct volcanoes of Pliocene to Quaternary age. Excavations reached undisturbed cultural deposits at two volcanic outcrops near the summit.
Excavations in 1994 and 1995 uncovered numerous artifacts including pottery fragments, stone tools, and food remains dating back about 3000 years. The findings demonstrate that this location served as both a dwelling place and a workshop for ancient populations over an extended period.
The Bajau community of Semporna still makes pottery by the same methods recorded in the hill's 3,000-year-old shards, an ethno-archaeological link between past and present. The site also shows ties between local potters and traders from around the Andaman Sea, evidence of prehistoric sea trade.
The site lies on Tampi Tampi Road, about 10 kilometres south of Semporna town. Excavations in 1994 and 1995 reached the base of the undisturbed cultural deposits after about five weeks of work at two volcanic outcrops near the summit. The hill is protected, so artefacts must not be removed or moved.
Excavations in 1994 and 1995 also yielded chert, agate and obsidian stone tools, polished stone adzes and a stone barkcloth beater, alongside shell and bone artefacts. Food remains were mostly marine molluscs, fish bones and some terrestrial animal bones, showing the hill was a camp as well as a pottery workshop.
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