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This
is the tale of an epic 1,000-kilometer trek across |
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As Luc-Henri Fage, the driving force behind the expedition, puts it: "This area is like no other on earth: It challenges the explorer to his utmost limit, but it rewards him in equal measure". After a gruelling overland journey west to east across the island - on foot, by boat, canoe and bamboo raft - the French speleologist struck gold at the 3,000-year old archaeological site of Liang Kaung, where he discovered a wealth of charcoal cave drawings of great antiquity. |
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| This initial find, which took place in 1988, was followed by others of equal, if not greater importance. In 1994, Fage discovered the first examples of prehistoric art in Borneo, and has since focused his research on six caves ornately covered almost wall-to-wall with paintings, some of which date back 25,000 years - beautiful and evocative records of an ancient civilisation. | ||||
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Among such images and symbols as flying lizards, deer, pigs, bovine creatures, worms, and geometrical symbols, one design stands out as a constantly recurring theme: the human hand, stencilled, rather than painted, on the cave walls and ceilings. Over 500 negative handprints have been found in the six caves undergoing exploration. The artist appears to have blown a very fine powdered pigment through a hollow tube or bone, over a hand pressed against the rock face. Paintings sometimes appear as high up as 10 metres above the cave floor, in seemingly inaccessible locations. However, most astonishing of all, the majority of the hands are decorated with dots, lines, crosses and patterns. Fage thinks that these may have ritual or shamanistic meaning, and may indicate the existence of an elaborate body art. Curved lines connect some of the hands, like a family tree. |
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The decorations and paintings in the caves of Liang Kaung are among the most beautiful and varied in all of Southeast Asia. They raise intriguing questions: What do they mean? How can we explain their similarity to the Aboriginal art of Australia? Are they sacred symbols or expressions of everyday life? How did these ancient people survive in such a hostile jungle environment, and when and why did they vanish? Luc-Henri Fage will tackle the formidable challenges of Kalimantan for the ninth time in 2001, as he sets off once more in search of answers. |
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| Cave art in Borneo l Sacred mountain discovery l Giant ichthyosaur fossil l Submerged ancient cities l Imagery of the Maya | ||||
