IT may have an eerie name, but Bukit Tengkorak, or Skull Hill, is set to catapult this sleepy east coast town to fame.


Few, locals included, know that Bukit Tengkorak was a major pottery making site in Southeast Asia between 4340 BC and 50 BC.

But they will soon. For under the 9MP it is to be promoted as a major tourism site. It will be one of more than 60 monuments and historical sites to be upgraded to attract more tourists. Other sites earmarked for special attention are Kota Kuala Muda in Kedah.and Fort Alice in Sarawak.

Heritage trails will be developed based on specific themes, including the Baba Nyonya heritage, the Portuguese and Dutch era in Malacca, war relics in Kota Baru and Bunga Mas in Kedah, and Kelantan.

The site is just 10 minutes away from Semporna town and any reasonably fit visitor can trek to the viewing platform within 30 minutes.

Describing it as a “significant archaeological discovery since independence”, Sabah Museum Department director Datuk Joseph Guntavid says the State and Federal Governments have earmarked Bukit Tengkorak as a focus area under the Plan.

“It will be developed as an open site archaeological museum. It is already being packaged as a tourist site, along with Pulau Sipadan, and this should create a strong spin-off for Semporna,” he says.

Archaeological research done between 1994 and 1995 by Universiti Sains Malaysia in co-operation with the Sabah Museum, uncovered pottery shards in layers of ash, which are probably remnants of open kilns used for firing pottery.

Excavations also found clay for making pottery which may have originated from large deposits of the material at the foothills.

Research also points at cultural contact and trade between 4300 BC and 50 BC involving people living at Bukit Tengkorak with other prehistoric communities along the southeastern coast of Sabah, Sulu Archipelago, Palawan, southern Mindanao, Sulawasi and the chain of islands between Papua New Guinea and Melanesia.

The department has already constructed a wooden staircase and railings on the upper part of the forested area leading to the cave system. An information centre at the top of Bukit Tengkorak, 183 metres above sea level, is also ready. There are plans to expand the staff strength to maintain and monitor Bukit Tengkorak.

Although Semporna is already well-known as the exit point for divers who head for Pulau Sipadan and other dive havens, promoting Bukit Tengkorak to the world will certainly create better economic growth for locals. A majority of Semporna folk depend on fishing and collecting coconuts, while some work in the private and public sectors.

Source : http://www.nst.com.my

About Semporna : May 02, 2008 08:24:04 AM