Lenggong Valley
UNESCO World Heritage Site Inscribed 2012; A Valley With An Almost Unbroken Record Of Human Occupation Going Back Nearly Two Million Years, And A Skeleton Buried With Care · Lenggong, Perak
LENGGONG IS A QUIET VALLEY IN NORTHERN PERAK WITH ONE OF THE LONGEST RECORDS OF HUMAN OCCUPATION ANYWHERE OUTSIDE AFRICA - stone tools here have been dated to somewhere approaching TWO MILLION YEARS, and the sequence runs on through the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic and the Metal Age with remarkably few gaps. UNESCO INSCRIBED IT IN 2012. THE FIND THAT PEOPLE REMEMBER IS PERAK MAN: a skeleton around ELEVEN THOUSAND YEARS OLD, found at GUA GUNUNG RUNTUH in 1991, the most complete of its age in this part of the world - AND HE HAD A CONGENITAL DEFORMITY OF ONE ARM, LIVED TO ABOUT FORTY-FIVE ANYWAY, AND WAS BURIED IN A FOETAL POSITION WITH FOOD AND TOOLS. Somebody looked after him and somebody buried him deliberately. BE WARNED: THIS IS A MUSEUM AND SOME CAVES, NOT A SPECTACLE. Go for the idea. Arrange a guide through the museum before you come, because the cave sites are scattered, unsignposted and not all open, and be aware that the actual skeleton is not on permanent public display here - the museum holds a replica and the interpretation.
Lenggong Valley, Hulu Perak, Perak, Lenggong, Perak, Malaysia
LENGGONG IS ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF NORTH OF IPOH by road, on the way toward Perlis and the Thai border - a car is necessary. THE LENGGONG ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM at Kota Tampan keeps daytime hours, charges very little and CLOSES ON SOME DAYS; it holds the interpretation and a replica of Perak Man. THE CAVE SITES THEMSELVES - GUA GUNUNG RUNTUH, GUA HARIMAU AND OTHERS - ARE SCATTERED ACROSS THE VALLEY, ARE NOT ALL OPEN, and SEVERAL REQUIRE A GUIDE OR PRIOR ARRANGEMENT through the museum or the local guides association. DO NOT EXPECT SIGNAGE. THE ACTUAL PERAK MAN SKELETON IS NOT ON PERMANENT PUBLIC DISPLAY HERE. Lenggong town is small with basic food and simple accommodation. It is hot; the caves are cooler.