NEOLITHIC WOMEN ELEVEN THOUSAND YEARS
Senior Senior Museum Assistant, Department of National Heritage, Malaysia, Khairil Amri Abdul Ghani (right) and Operations Assistant Abdul Ghafar Abdul Ghani carried out excavation work to remove prehistoric human (female) skeletons in the archaeological site, the Keledong Kecil Cave of the Nenggiri Valley thus saving the most important treasures of the history of civilization and human culture.
A fairly complete prehistoric human skeleton was found in a fully folded position next to the Hematite stone in front of him and facing southwest, believed to be older than Perak Man who was previously estimated to have existed from 10,000 to 11,000 years ago.
The excavation work was carried out by Consultants from the Malay Institute of Nature and Civilization (ATMA) of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), led by the Chief Researcher of the Rescue Archeology Excavation for the Nenggiri Hydroelectric Project, Associate Prof Dr Zuliskandar Ramli.
This rescue excavation work involved more than 30 people consisting of archaeologists, research assistants, UKM students and assisted by nearby villagers starting in September 2022.
The prehistoric human skeleton was taken out of Keledung Kecil Cave and placed in the National Heritage Department\'s conservation laboratory for work- comprehensive conservation work.
This project is one of Tenaga Nasional Berhad\'s (TNB) mitigation efforts for the construction of the Nenggiri dam which involves a total of 14 caves. The Nenggiri Hydroelectric Dam, which is expected to be fully completed by the middle of 2027, will submerge caves with archaeological heritage such as Gua Cha, Gua Chawan, Gua Kecil (Batu Tambah), Lubang Kelawat Cave (Batu Tambah), Keledung Cave, Rahmat Cave, Gemalah Cave and Kelew Cave in Gua Musang, Kelantan.
ZID BIN OMAR, Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
