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 historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

in the Malaysian state of

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

and refers to a group of several caves in a steep

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

cliffs in the

Kinabatangan Kinabatangan ( ms, Pekan Kinabatangan) is the capital of the Kinabatangan District in the Sandakan Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 10,256 in 2010. Kinabatangan is mostly populated with the Orang Sungai ...

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 ), natively called by its generic term Bisaya or Binisaya (bot ...

(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, namely 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 ''Eusideroxylon zwageri'' is a rare timber tree native to the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines region. It is known colloquially in English as Bornean ironwood, billian, or ulin. Distribution It is native to Brunei; Flores, Java, Kali ...

'') 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 word for "River People") are a group of indigenous people native to the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Groups of communities live along the rivers of Kinabatangan, Paitan, Labuk, Kudat, Membakut and Lahad Datu. The name "O ...

but it has also been said that they are the coffins of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

who once settled in the area as Chinese artefacts were found among the remains. It is believed that this type of funeral culture was brought by traders from

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

and

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, 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 the west an ...

to northern

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

, 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 ( ms, Bandar 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 an ...

and

Tawau Tawau (, Jawi: , ), formerly known as Tawao, is the capital of the Tawau District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the third-largest city in Sabah, after Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. It is located on the Semporna Peninsula in the southeast coast of t ...

. 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 Barbara Harrisson (born ''Barbara Veronika Gertrud Maria Elisabeth Güttler'',Sarawak State Museum The Sarawak State Museum ( ms, Muzium Negeri Sarawak) is the oldest museum in Borneo. It was founded in 1888 and opened in 1891 in a purpose-built building in Kuching, Sarawak. It has been said that naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace encouraged C ...

and staffs of the

Sabah Museum The Sabah Museum ( Malay: ''Muzium Sabah'') is the state museum of Sabah, Malaysia. It is sited on of land at Bukit Istana Lama in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital. History The original Sabah Museum location was established on 15 July 1965 ...

. Since 6 July 1996, the caves are part of the Sabah Museum, which is responsible for maintenance and upkeep the ancillary facilities such as toilets, staircase buildings, office buildings and overnight cabins except for 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