Niah caves from ca. 46,000 to 34,000 years ago. Painted Cave, situated in a much smaller limestone block of its own, some 150 metres from the Great Cave block's south eastern tip, has rock paintings dated as 1,200 years old. Archeologists have claimed a much earlier date for stone tools found in the Mansuli valley, near Lahad Datu in Sabah, but precise dating analysis has not yet been published. Items found at Niah Cave include Pleistocene chopping tools and flakes, Neolithic axes, adzes, pottery, shell jewellery, boats, mats, then iron tools and ceramics and glass beads dating to the Iron Age. The most famous find is the human skull dated at around 38,000 years BCE. Painted Cave has paintings and wooden coffin 'death ships'. Between 1954 and 1966, approximately 750,000 fragments of animal bones were excavated here. One of them was identified as the metacarpal bone of a young tiger. Vegetation Pearce (2004) recognises six vegetation types: Limestone vegetation on karst. Mixed Dipterocarp Forest. Seasonal Swamp Forest on clayey marl soils. Seasonal Swamp Forest on peat soils. Riparian Forest. Regenerating Forest. Current activities The caves are also well known for the bird's nest industry. They are a popular tourist destination in Sarawak. Every section of the ceiling in the caves where there are swiftlets roosting is privately owned and only the owner has the right to collect the nests. Collection is done half-yearly (usually in January and in June). The collector climbs up hundreds of feet on a single pole to the cave ceiling and scrapes off the nest in flickering candlelight. Gallery See also Prehistoric Malaysia References Further reading Kennedy, Kenneth A. R., "The Deep Skull of Niah: an Assessment of Twenty Years of Speculation Concerning its Evolutionary Significance", Asian Perspectives, XX(I), 1977 External links Tourism Malaysia - Niah National Park A short description of the caves as a touristic destination. Summary of the article "A short history of birds' nests management in the Niah caves (Sarawak)." by Quentin Gausset from the "Borneo Research Bulletin" published in 2002. Another version from the Sarawak Forestry with a map of the caves Article with a picture of some paintings and death ships. Picture of some cave paintings. Miri Division Caves of Sarawak Limestone caves Wild caves Archaeological sites in Malaysia National parks of Sarawak