Editing Sabah (section)

===Prehistory===
{{main|Prehistoric Malaysia}}
[[File:Madai Sabah Madai-Cave-01.jpg|thumb|Entrance to the [[Madai Cave]]]]
The earliest known human settlement in the region existed 20,000–30,000 years ago, as evidenced by stone tools and food remains found by excavations along the [[Darvel Bay]] area at Madai-Baturong caves near the Tingkayu River.<ref name= "MacKinnon1996">{{cite book |author=Kathy MacKinnon |title=The Ecology of Kalimantan |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=70iB6Tf62OkC&pg=PA55 |year= 1996 |publisher=Periplus Editions |isbn= 978-0-945971-73-3 |pages= 55–57 |quote=Since 1980, the Sabah Museum staff have carried out excavations in the Madai and Baturong limestone massifs, at caves and open sites dated back 30,000 years. Baturong is surrounded by large area of alluvial deposits, formed by the damming of the Tingkayu River by a lava flow. The Tingkayu stone industry shows a unique level of skills for its period. The remains of many mammals, snakes, and tortoises were found, all food items collected by early occupants of the rock shelters.}}</ref> The earliest inhabitants in the area were thought to be similar to [[Aboriginal Australians]], but the reason for their disappearance is unknown.<ref name="sabah info">{{cite web |url=http://www.sabah.edu.my/kaupin/guest/sabah/sabah_forever.htm |title=About Sabah |work=Sabah Tourism Promotion Corporation and Sabah State Museum |publisher=Sabah Education Department |access-date=15 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515105207/http://www.sabah.edu.my/kaupin/guest/sabah/sabah_forever.htm |archive-date=15 May 2016 }}</ref> In 2003, archaeologists discovered the Mansuli valley in the [[Lahad Datu District]], which dates back 235,000 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2012/04/10/archaeologists-hit-gold-at-mansuli/ |title=Archaeologists hit 'gold' at Mansuli |author=Durie Rainer Fong |work=The Star |date=10 April 2012 |access-date=26 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030100432/http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2012/04/10/Archaeologists-hit-gold-at-Mansuli/ |archive-date=30 October 2014 }}</ref> The archaeological site at [[Skull Hill, Malaysia|Skull Hill]] (''Bukit Tengkorak'') in [[Semporna District]] was the largest pottery making site in [[Neolithic]] Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.seaa-web.org/bulletin2008/bul-essay-08-01.htm |title=Prehistoric Sites and Research in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia |author=Stephen Chia |publisher= Centre for Archaeological Research Malaysia, University of Science, Malaysia | work=Bulletin of the Society for East Asian Archaeology |year=2008 |access-date=23 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160523083324/http://www.seaa-web.org/bulletin2008/bul-essay-08-01.htm |archive-date=23 May 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.museum.sabah.gov.my/?q=content/bukit-tengkorak-archaeological-sites-semporna |title= Bukit Tengkorak Archaeological Sites, Semporna |publisher=Sabah Museum Department |access-date=26 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325001742/http://museum.sabah.gov.my/?q=content%2Fbukit-tengkorak-archaeological-sites-semporna |archive-date=25 March 2016 }}</ref>