BELIEF SYSTEMS IN PREHISTORIC TIMES
Archaeology has shown that during the late Pleistocene in Europe, West Asia and Australia, the emergence of spiritual consciousness was already evident. Cave drawings and rock engravings from this period were not merely aesthetic endeavours, but manifestations of religious beliefs. Red ochre, or haematite powder, found with human burials from the late Pleistocene time onwards, suggests that burial rites were already being practised, and grave offerings are evidence of a belief in an afterlife. In Malaysia, the climatic conditions are not conducive for the preservation of such early remains. Nonetheless, numerous burials from the later prehistoric and protohistoric periods have been found, including the 10,000-year-old skeleton of Perak Man. The multiplicity of ways in which the dead were disposed of, including flexed and extended modes, jar, canoe, boat, mound and slab grave burials, as well as the associated funeral rites, testify to the diversity of Malaysian societies since prehistoric times.
The earliest Malaysian belief systems derive from communal memories of encounters with natural forces and struggles with sickness and death. These memories included tales handed down by oral traditions of the extraordinary feats of forefathers. Eventually, people began to conceive the idea that there were powers operating at a realm well above theirs. Animism, the belief that inanimate objects and natural phenomena have a soul or spirit living in them, was a common religious belief. Droughts, floods, forest fires and sickness were thought to have been caused by spirits. Sacrifices and rites were conducted to propitiate them, taboos were instituted to avoid offending them again, and amulets were used for protection against evil spirits and wild beasts. Ritual healings conducted by shamans were commonly practised to cure the sick.
Benevolent spirits were worshipped for protection and favours, particularly ancestral spirits of men of prowess and founders of settlements. Cults centred around such benevolent spirits designated special places for worship and the performance of ceremonial rites. Large, undressed stones in Negeri Sembilan, Sabah and Sarawak may have been used to mark these sacred places.
Ethnographic records show that celebrations for important spirits were marked by animal, and sometimes human, sacrifices. Food and intoxicating drinks were offered to the spirits along with incantations, dances, music and feasting. In some cases, special ceremonial objects were part of the rites, such as the famed Dongson drums, used as cult objects throughout Southeast Asia during the Metal Age. Six of these have been found in Malaysia, and it is believed that they could have been utilized in the burial rituals of important persons.
Many animist beliefs still practised by some Orang Asli and ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak may have originated in the prehistoric period.
