Reading Human Activity in the Landscape

For the Kelabit and Penan peoples of interior Borneo, cosmic power is believed to coalesce in the form of stone. This occurs through both natural processes and human manipulation. What is believed to be ‘natural’ includes what is seen as the petrification of human dwellings, to produce what archaeologists would regard as natural formations; and also the formation of ‘thunderstones’ - cylindrical stones on which archaeologists have found traces of sago starch and which they interpret as ancient sago pounders formed by human hand. The ability to manipulate the landscape, including stone, is seen as an expression of the possession of cosmic power, and is valorised by the rice-growing Kelabit. The hunter-gatherer Penan are more cautious about manipulation of the landscape.