History of Sabah - Prehistoric Sabah

Prehistoric Sabah

During the Last Glacial Maximum about 20,000 years ago, Sabah and the rest of Borneo island was connected to mainland Asia in a landmass known as the Sundaland. Subsequent deglaciation, which caused global sea level to rise, resulted in the Sundaland being submerged, separating Borneo from the rest of Asia.

Earliest human settlement in the region is believed to have dated back about 20,000–30,000 years ago. These early humans are believed to be Australoid or Negrito people. Stone tools and artifacts have been found in Madai and Baturong caves and in the archeological site in Lake Tingkayu near the district of Kunak which were estimated to date back from 28,000–17,000 years ago. The tools found there were considered advanced for its period. There was evidence of human cave-dwellings around 15,000–6,000 years ago.

An ongoing 2012 study by Universiti Sains Malaysia and Sabah Museum revealed the discovery of stone tools in Mansuli Valley near Lahad Datu believed to be 235,000 years old and in another site in Kampung Lipasu, Bingkor believed to be at least 200,000 years old. These recent findings suggests that human settlement in Sabah and Malaysia have existed much earlier than previously thought, which is about 40,000 years ago in Niah Caves, Sarawak.

The earliest ascertained wave of human migration, believed to be Austronesian Mongoloids, occurred around 3000 BC. This wave of migration is believed to represent the time when the indigenous hill people of present day Sabah had first arrived, namely the Murut followed by the Brunei, the Dusun, and other related ethnic groups. It is believed that some Australoid or Negrito people have interbred with later Mongoloid migrants and remained in Borneo, while others have migrated to other places such as Melanesia, the Lesser Sunda Islands or Australia.

The theory that Austronesians in Southeast Asia arrived from China through Taiwan has been challenged by Stephen Oppenheimer who suggested that many cultures including the people of China and India might have actually originated from Sundaland. A new finding based on DNA research in 2008 supported Oppenheimer's theory that migration flow might have been radiated out from Sundaland sometime around 15,000 to 7,000 years ago following the submergence of Sundaland due to rise in sea level.. The findings of Stephen Oppenheimer was doubted. The poor cultures of sunderland do not support his theory that the people of China and India might have actually originated from Sundaland. It was the Austronesians in Southeast Asia arrived from China through Taiwan. As for the case of Sabah, the Dusun or the Muruts cultures are less than 200 years old.