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.[1]
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]
Perak Man
The oldest human skeleton found in Malaysia was at Gua Gunung Runtuh in the state of Perak in Peninsular Malaysia. The cave was his final resting place situated in Bukit Kepala Gajah or Elephant's Head Hill in the Lenggong Valley of Ulu Perak. The skeleton was a male with a height of approximately 157 cm, estimated to have been in his 50s. The skeleton was discovered in 1991 and has been dated to around 11,000 years old. It is one of the most complete skeletons for this time period in this region.[6]
He was buried in the fetal position, with deposits of animal bones at his right shoulder, to his left and to his bottom, and deposits of stone tools around the body. There were no other burials in the cave. The Perak Man had a malformed left hand, his left arm and hand were much smaller compared to his right arm and hand.[6] This deformity could be from a genetic disorder known as brachymesophalangia. This evidence is further supported by the fact that his spine is curved towards the right due to living with only one good hand.[citation needed]
The bones that were found deposited near him were identified to have come from wild boar, monkey, monitor lizard and deer and are thought to have been food deposits. There were about ten stone tools scattered around the body, and most of them were pebble tools and some hammer stones.[citation needed]
One conclusion that the study made was that he must have been an important member of society because his burial was very elaborate and labour intensive.[6] The Perak Man was put into the pit with food offerings, covered with small shells, then more offerings and tools, and then another shell layer, followed by a final dirt layer. Furthermore, he was estimated to have been in his 50s which was very old for a person from that era with a disability. People had to take care of him – and people would not take it upon themselves unless he was respected or highly ranked in some sort of social hierarchy.[citation needed]
In 2004, another skeleton was found at Gua Teluk Kelawar in Lenggong, Perak by a team of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) archaeologists. This skeleton was dubbed the 'Perak woman', who was 148 cm in height and was believed to have been in her 40s. The Perak Women is believed to have died 8,000 years ago.[citation needed]
Accessibility
Lenggong is accessible by trunk roads connecting it with neighbouring towns and cities. The town of Lenggong is situated some 100 kilometres north of Ipoh on the Kuala Kangsar to Gerik road (highway 76). The road to Lenggong is surrounded mostly by oil palm estates and jungles.
