THE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN SUSTAINING AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE: THE CASE OF SARAWAK, MALAYSIA

Keywords: Community involvement; Archaeological research; Preservation; Sireh cave, Heritage management, Sarawak, Malaysia Introduction A limestone cave has been natural attractions since prehistoric period. According to the Bidayuh tribe's myth, Mount Nambi is a former merchant ship that turned into a big stone because of a dragon attack guarding the gemstones in Bukit Sandong. Sireh Cave was used for human burial sometime 2000 years ago and that trade relationship between China happen until the last century [19]. [...]the excavation provides not only the information about the activities at the site but also some preliminary information about its chronology and occupation. Unstructured and semi structured interviews (Table 2) with knowledgeable elders and Sarawak Museum Department employee used to clarify the role of community involvement in archaeological research and preservation at the site.