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Lenggong or Lenggong Valley (Malay

Lenggong Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a significant archaeological area in Peninsular Malaysia, surrounded by limestone hills and caves. Excavations have uncovered important prehistoric artifacts, including tools and human remains, with sites like Kota Tampan dating back 75,000 years. The valley's archaeological richness provides crucial insights into Malaysia's early human activity and culture.

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11 views2 pages

Lenggong or Lenggong Valley (Malay

Lenggong Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a significant archaeological area in Peninsular Malaysia, surrounded by limestone hills and caves. Excavations have uncovered important prehistoric artifacts, including tools and human remains, with sites like Kota Tampan dating back 75,000 years. The valley's archaeological richness provides crucial insights into Malaysia's early human activity and culture.

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Lenggong or Lenggong Valley (Malay: Lembah Lenggong) is a geographical area defined

by the mountain ranges of Bintang in the west and Titiwangsa to its east. It is a
rural area, with small kampongs surrounded by green vegetation and limestone hills
with numerous caves.

The Lenggong Valley is one of Peninsular Malaysia's most important areas for
archaeology, as excavations have revealed many traces of Malaysia's prehistory,
with finds such as cave drawings, jewellery, pottery, weapons and stone tools. It
is the site of one of the oldest known place of human activity in the Peninsula.
The Lenggong Valley was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site on 30 June 2012.
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See also: Prehistoric Malaysia

In Malaysia, the earliest remains is a human skull found in the Niah Caves in
Sarawak and dates back some 40,000 years.[2][3] Almost all of the archaeological
remains found in Lenggong have been associated with caves.[4] The two exceptions
are the Kota Tampan and Bukit Jawa sites, which are Peninsular Malaysia's only
Palaeolithic sites.[5]

Kota Tampan is the earliest known site of human inhabitants. Excavations at Kota
Tampan which began in 1938 revealed an undisturbed stone tool production area.
Pebble tools were made using equipment such as anvils and hammer stones. Some
50,000 pieces of stone have been found and recorded. The culture at Kota Tampan is
referred to as Tampanian. The workshop was initially dated at 30,000 years old, but
this figure has now been revised to 75,000 years. Although the Kota Tampan workshop
site is currently on a hillside, and in an oil palm plantation, the original site
was on a lake shore. It is thought that the workshop was disbanded roughly 75,000
years ago due to a volcanic eruption at Lake Toba in Sumatra, approximately 250
kilometres away. There is a large gap of 17,000 years between Kota Tampan and the
next archaeological site, Gua Gunung Runtuh, which has been attributed to the
devastating effects of the Toba eruption.[citation needed]

Gua Gunung Runtuh is situated in Bukit Kepala Gajah or Elephant's Head Hill. In the
same hill other caves have yielded archaeological remains such as stone tools and
food remnants. The caves were probably used as temporary shelters as seasonal or
hunting camps, whereas Gua Gunung Runtuh was lived in for longer periods. Gua
Harimau, or Tiger Cave, is a site about 3 kilometres away from Gua Gunung Runtuh
which was probably used as a burial ground about 3,000 – 5,000 years ago as seven
human skeletons have been found at the site along with bronze axes and various
articles of jewellery. The bronze axes show that there was an early Bronze
tradition in Malaysia, as well as in north Thailand and China. It is the earliest
use of metal in south-east Asia. Porcelain containers of various shapes and sizes
were also found containing meat and snail shells. Archaeological digs in other
caves have revealed pottery, axes stone tools and flakes. Food also remains, and in
some sites, human bones. Unfortunately, some caves have been disturbed by guano
diggers and any remains have been lost.[citation needed]

More recently, a team excavated Bukit Jawa, which has been dated at 200,000 years
old. Bukit Jawa is therefore far older than the Kota Tampan workshop, which is just
6 km away.[citation needed]

Negrito cave drawings have been found at various sites but are not prehistoric, as
they are only about 100 years old. Gua Badak is one of the main places for these
drawings, situated about 10 kilometres north of Lenggong. The Lanoh Negrito made
the illustrative recordings of their every life. The charcoal drawings were first
discovered and documented in the 1920s by Ivor Evans. They were then thought to
have been lost by quarrying, but were rediscovered in 1992. Modern graffiti covers
some of the original drawings. The Negritos used the caves as shelters during
hunting trips. The sketches depict things such as animals, people, trees, mats,
bicycles and cars. Apart from the charcoal drawings, they made white pictures by
scrapping away the limestone rock.[citation needed]

Most of the old troglodytes or cave dwellers of the Malay Peninsula temporarily
lived in caves and rock shelters. They lived mainly by hunting, evidence shown by
the remains of animal bones and molluscs. The people may have painted their bodies
using red iron oxide. They used stones and slabs for grinding up substances such as
salt, and all their tools were made of stones. Flakes were used as knives or
scrappers. So it can be seen that the Lenggong area is very important as it
contains much evidence relating to the prehistory of Malaysia. It is the oldest
area where remains have been found, and all the sites are situated conveniently
within a small area.[citation needed]

Gua Puteri is a natural tunnel which pierces Bukit Kajang. There are no
archaeological findings here, but the cave is known for its legends. Two
stalagmites are believed to be a prince and princess who guard the cave. Locals say
that if children climb up the stalagmites they will fall sick.[citation needed]

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