In many cases, the geological age, and sometimes even taxonomic affinity, of these ancient remains continues to be uncertain ( Thorne et al., 1999 Dizon et al., 2002 Détroit et al., 2004 Olley et al., 2006 Barker et al., 2007, 2013 Mijares et al., 2010 Demeter et al., 2012 Storm et al., 2013). Finally, our research suggests that the widely supported “two-layer” hypothesis for the Pleistocene peopling of East/Southeast Asia is unlikely to apply to the earliest inhabitants of Borneo, in-line with the picture emerging from genetic studies of the contemporary people from the region.ĭiscussions about the initial settlement of Southeast Asia and Australasia by anatomically modern humans (AMH) have historically focused on evidence from a small number of Late Pleistocene human remains scattered across this broad region ( Thorne et al., 1999 Dizon et al., 2002 Détroit et al., 2004 Olley et al., 2006 Barker et al., 2007, 2013 Mijares et al., 2010 Demeter et al., 2012 Storm et al., 2013). We also show that the affinities of the specimen are most likely to be with the contemporary indigenous people of Borneo, although, similarities to the population sometimes referred to as Philippine Negritos cannot be excluded. The morphological evidence strongly suggests that the Deep Skull samples the earliest modern humans to have settled Borneo, most likely originating on mainland East Asia. We conclude that this individual was most likely to have been of advanced age and female, rather than an adolescent male as originally proposed. In doing so, we provide a new and comprehensive description of the cranium including a reassessment of its ontogenetic age, sex, morphology, and affinities. Here we undertake a new assessment of the Deep Skull and consider its bearing on this question. The most widely held view, originating with Brothwell's 1960 description and analysis, is that the Niah individual is related to Indigenous Australians.
For more than 50 years its relevance to tracing the prehistory of the region has been controversial. The Deep Skull from Niah Cave in Sarawak (Malaysia) is the oldest anatomically modern human recovered from island Southeast Asia.
1Palaeontology, Geobiology and Earth Archives Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.Taçon 3, Charles Leh Moi Ung 2 and Mohammad S.
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