Page 539 - Proceedings Collega2023

INTERPRETATIONS OF ZOOMORPHIC IMAGES IN NIAH CAVE

Junior KIMWAH
Akademi Seni dan Teknologi Kreatif, Universiti Malaysia Sabah,
Sabah, Malaysia
juniorkimwah@ums.edu.my
Corresponding Author*

Salbiah KINDOYOP
Akademi Seni dan Teknologi Kreatif, Universiti Malaysia Sabah,
Sabah, Malaysia
salbiah.bea@ums.edu.my

ABSTRACT
The Niah cave, located within in the Niah Cave Complex is a cave believed to have been inhabited
by the Neolithic people. Inside the cave, there are numerous artefacts including boat-shaped coffins,
jewellery made of shells, bones, and ceramics. There are also cave painting drawn on the cave wall using
hematite material mixed with a mixture of plant liquid material. The wall painting in Niah Cave, located
within in the Niah Cave Complex is a cave believed to have been inhabited by the Neolithic people. Inside
the cave, there are numerous artefacts including boat-shaped coffins, jewellery made of shells, bones, and
ceramics. There are also cave paintings drawn on the cave wall using hematite materials mixed with a
mixture of plant liquid material. Zoomorphic refers to images of animals. In this cave, there are several
animals images, which have not been adequately interpreted or understood. This paper examines these
zoomorphic images which are significant to the community. The paper interprets the zoomorphic images
found inside the cave by recording them digitally. The research re-produced the images using Adobe
Photoshop’s digital software. By analysing the characteristics, this research identifies these images as
being of chicken which it argues could have been important at the time. The paper concludes that the
images demonstrate the significance of chicken during the Neolithic period as a source of food. Based on
the premise that ancient people drew the images on the cave wall when they believed they are important
as part of the history the paper argues that ancient society could have started consuming chicken as their
source of protein at that time.

Keywords: Animals representation; cave paintings; Niah Cave; zoomorphic images

International Conference on Local Wisdom of the Malay Archipelago (COLLEGA 2023) Page - 526 -