The Malaysian Insight

THE Guar Kepah Archaeological Site has yielded many discoveries of skeletons and pottery fragments from settlements in the Malay peninsula from thousands of years ago.

The site was first excavated in the 19th century by British archaeologists with skeletons from previous excavations between 1860 until 1934 are now at National Natuurhistorisch Museum in Leiden, The Netherlands while some artifacts are at the Heritage Conservation Centre in Singapore.

Two months ago, a backhoe used in the construction of the Guar Kepah Archaeological Gallery dug a layer of soil and struck something. It was the morning April 17, and the construction was being monitored by a group of archaeologists from Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Global Archaeology Research Center (PPAG) led by Professor Mokhtar Saidin.

After two hours of work, the backhoe had touched a bone, which is part of a skeleton, which has now been carbon dated and is 5,710 years old. The skeleton found at a small village in Guar Kepah might give clearer insight of prehistoric times, archaeologists say.

From their findings and the mounds of shells known as middens, the site used to be close to the sea. But now, it is an agrarian community with paddy fields and jackfruit plantations. Further research is being done following the latest discovery, the USM archaeologists say. – May 21, 2017.