A Controversy on the Iron Industry at Santubong
Ever since the rise of the Shang people in the Huang Ho basin in 1800 BC, bronze has been a Chinese precious metal. It consisted of a mixture of copper and tin or lead. In the 10th century BC iron was discovered. The bronze casting technique was applied to the smelting of iron resulting in cast iron.
Cast iron became popular around the fifth century BC when steel was used to replace bronze, especially in weapons. However, the steel would corrode easily and become known as “ugly metal”. Most of the important objects such as sacrificial vessels and Buddhist idols continued to be cast in bronze. National currency or coins were always minted in bronze.
In the T’ang dynasty (618-907), there arose an acute shortage of bronze. The output of copper in the minds of North China suddenly decreased. At the same time, there was an outflow of Chinese coins to neighbouring countries.
The shortage of copper became acute during the beginning of the Sung dynasty (960-1279). There was not enough metal to supply the mint even though searches for copper mines along the South China coast proved fruitless. Large quantities of coins were minted with iron.
The rise of Santubong could be the result of the search for iron. The iron of Santubong was found in granules (pisolitic laterite) on the ground, which was very rich in iron. These granules also gave off a very slag-like appearance which could have been mistaken for slag coming from the processing of these granules.
To harvest these granules, using the Indian “wootz” process they were placed in a tube-like crucible. These crucibles were then piled up in rows and heated by using wood from the Mangrove forest. The liquid iron was allowed to solidify at the bottom of the crucibles. The iron was removed by knocking off the bottom of the tubes with a stone. (hammerstone). The leftover material in the crucible was discarded and termed slag.
The cast iron of Santubong could be exported by sea-going fleets which arrived from Ch’uan-chou the center of the iron industry in China during the Sung period. The ships left Ch’uan-chou on the northeast monsoon, laden with pottery, silks, and other trading goods, and returned them with iron and other island goods during the southwest monsoon.
Ch’uan-chou was one of the biggest seaports during that time period. It’s trading fleet could have docked at Sungei Jaong and Sungei Buah, then wide anchorages but now silted creeks.
In the middle of the 13th century, the Mongols overran most of China. In 1280 Kublai Khan enthroned himself as emperor and assembled a huge navy. The fleet set sail for Japan but was wrecked by a typhoon. Only three men of 100,000 that set sail returned to China.
The fleet consisted of all seagoing ships, both mercantile and sailing vessels. The rebuilding of the fleet took decades. Meanwhile, Santubong reverted back to a small village. The great docks fell into disrepair and the waterways were engulfed in river mud and reverted to jungles. Santubong during the 1400s would not attract any of the fleets of the Ming dynasty.
However, Christie and others state there was no export to China as China was exporting iron to other countries.
Christie also states the granules also gave off a very slag-like appearance which could have been mistaken for slag coming from the processing of these granules.
The vast quantities of slag found were really laterite found in the earth, the crucibles were used in the bellows and not in the iron process and the lack of historical documents showing iron trade between Santubong and China all show that Santubong was not a major iron exporter to China. In fact, Christie states she believes Santubong was a small iron processor at best. Christie states the iron went to the interior of Borneo to make spears and other iron implements and to its feeder ports along the coast of Borneo.
Therefore we have two theories on iron smelting: The first is Cheng Te-Kun where all of Santubong was devoted to iron production for the Chinese. The second is Jan Christie where there were small independent iron sites where the iron was sold to inland peoples and along the Borneo coast.
Dr Daniel Perret is head of the Ecole Francaise D’Extreme Orient at Kuala Lumpur which is connected to the Department of History at the University of Malaya. Email: da***********@ef**.net
The following is from Daniel Perret Investigations at Sungai Jaong
While digging a trench at Sungei Jaong, Perret dated the first floor of trench SJ1 which yielded a 13th-century dating yet he did not date the other two floors below the first one.
Two soil profiles nearly a meter thick resulted in five floors separated by layers of tap slag dated to the 10th to 11th century. The soil profile was 15 meters southwest of the above trench. He did not radiocarbon date the lower floors.
Trench SJ4 revealed four other floors whose dates range between the 11th and 12th centuries. Here again, Perret does not radiocarbon date the lower or older floors.
An iron ore reduction furnace consisting of several stones was found in SJ4 and dated to the 12th and 13th centuries and again, the lower levels have not been dated.
Perret claims that this furnace could be the very first iron smelting site on Borneo Island, a presumptuous assertation.
Perret also claims “the large quantity of iron slag is typical of a site devoted to iron smelting activities.”Yet, does the “large quantity of slag” refer to the actual slag processed during the smelting or, as Christies states, granules also gave off a very slag-like appearance would could have been mistaken for slag.
Dr Perret finally answered my e-mails but did not answer my questions stating they would answered in a forthcoming book.
The following is from Cheng Te-K’un Archaeology in Sarawak
There were several main sites on the Santubong Peninsula. They included Sungei Jaong, Bongkissam, Bukit Maras, Sungai Buah, Tanjong Kubor and Tanjong Tegok.
Sungei Jaong was a major trench of the Sarawak River two miles above the village of Santubong. The trench has since been silted up. The surface of the ground is strewn with large boulders, some fifty decorated with humanistic and symbolic figures in low relief. The most famous carving is that of a spread eagle human figure.
As evidenced by the large amounts of slag, this seems to have been a major iron smelting site with quantities of pottery and porcelain, notably from the T’ang and Sung periods. Ships from China used broken pottery as ballast and it was simply shovelled out to make way for the iron.
Bongkissam is located on the outskirts of the present village of Santubong downriver from Jaong on the same bank. The silt up on this part of the river has been less complete and is normally filled with water at high tide. The iron slag reaches over half a mile inland and contains the same slag deposits and crucibles as the Sungei Jaong region.
Bukit Maras is a hillock at the foot of Santubong Mountain behind Bongkissam. The excavation unearthed a “fair amount” of iron slag but no crucibles.(!) Included in the mix were 503 glass beads, 152 metal articles and 40 pieces of stoneware fragments. Present was also a stone figure of a Buddha in the Gupta tradition, a sandstone tile depicting a trumpeting elephant and lotus flower, and other artefacts indicating the presence of Buddhism in pre-Islamic days.
Sungei Buah is a large creek on the opposite bank of the Sarawak River. It runs for half a mile to the foot of Mount Buah. It is now separated from all tidal water by a mangrove swamp. It also consists of huge amounts of slag crucibles and broken pottery shovelled out of the Chinese boats as ballast. Beads, glass bangles and other trade items were also found.
Tanjong Kubor is a cemetery located on the seaward side of Mount Buah. Several thousand sherds from balast and fragments from the T’ang and Sung dynasties were found there. Uniquely, 46 pieces of iron, seven bronze bangles 2 objects of gold confirm the cemetery was from the T’ang or Sung period.
Tanjong Tegok is a headland cemetery situated on the river estuary northwest of Bongkissam. This suggests a burial for the rich. The grave goods included two beads, one gold ring, five pieces of iron, Chinese copper cash and 106 pieces of charcoal. The charcoal has been a common practice in China since Shang and Chou times to keep the burial dry.
Batang Karang region with Gedong as its centre was a large residential site which was occupied from the 12th to the early fourteenth century. Three other sites, Tebing Tiggi, Bukit Sadong and Ensika were inhabited from the late 13th century to the early 15th century.
Bibliography
Cheng Te-K’un Archaeology in Sarawak Cambridge: W Heffer&Sons, 1969
Christie Jan On Po-Ni: The Santubong Sites of Sarawak in The Sarawak Museum Journal, 1985
Judith M. Heimann, The Most Offending Soul Alive: Tom Harrisson and His Remarkable Life, Honolulu, University of Hawai’i Press, 1997.
Perret, Daniel Archaeological Investigations at Sungai Jaong (2018, 2019, 2022), Sarawak, Malaysiain Bulletin archéologique des Écoles françaises à l’étranger, 2023
Zuliskandar, Ramli Local Genius/Knowledge in Science and Technology in the Context of Early Malay Kingdoms in Peninsula Malaysia and Borneoin Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, Volume 660 Proceedings of the 9th Asbam International Conference (Archeology, History, & Culture In The Nature of Malay) (ASBAM 2021) Atlantis Press 2022
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