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Archaeologists investigating caves in Malaysia ahead of their flooding for a hydroelectric reservoir have key out more than a XII prehistorical burials they recollect are up to 16,000 years honest-to-goodness .
The caves , in the remote Nenggiri Valley about 135 nautical mile ( 215 kilometers ) north of Kuala Lumpur , will be underwater if the reservoir fills as planned in mid-2027 , creating a 20 - square - mile ( 53 square km ) lake to feast a 300 - megawatt hydroelectric mightiness station .
These two ancient skeletons buried at the Gua Chalan site were discovered by archaeologists excavating a limestone cave there before it is flooded by a hydroelectric lake.
Zuliskandar Ramli , an archaeologist at the National University of Malaysia , told Live Science that most of the skeletons seemed to be from the pre - Neolithic finish of the neighborhood .
Some scholars suggest this was a branch of the hunter - accumulator Hoabinhian civilisation , who made distinctive stone tools found in other parts of Southeast Asia , fromsouthwest Chinato Indonesia . Scientists also think the Hoabinhian peoples used many wild plant — include pepper , broad beans and betel egg — that are domesticize in the realm today .
Ramli , who led the excavations at the Nenggiri Valley , sound out his squad had found a amount of 16 individual bury in 13 limestone caves at four land site .
Chronometric dating shows that the earliest skeleton discovered in the Nenggeri Valley caves dates from between 14,000 and 16,000 years ago.(Image credit: Z. Ramli/Nenggiri Valley Rescue Excavations)
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Cave finds
Fifteen of the systema skeletale were bury in a crouched or " fully flexed " position , which indicates a pre - Neolithic burial in this region , Ramli said . But the other skeleton had been lay to rest in an extended placement , and date of the sedimentary layer in the cave , includingradiocarbon geological dating , suggested it originated in the Neolithic period about 6,000 years ago .
As well as the 16 skeletons , the archaeologists recover more than 71,000 prehistorical artifacts from the cave .
Many are worked fragments of Edward Durell Stone tool , but the shovel also found thousands of piece of pottery , as well as Harlan Fiske Stone ornaments .
All but one of the 16 aerials discovered in the Nenggiri Valley caves date to the pre-Neolithic period in the region, more than 10,000 years ago.(Image credit: Z. Ramli/Nenggiri Valley Rescue Excavations)
Malaysia ’s government - ownedBernama news show agencyreported that the archaeological work at the Nenggiri Valley sites began in March 2022 and conclude in October 2023 . One of the most important discovery was a complete human skeletal system in a cave anticipate Gua Keledung Kecil that is estimated to date between 14,000 and 16,000 years old .
" This is the most pure and oldest skeleton in a to the full flexed position found in the country , " Ramli told Live Science .
Grave goods
Many of the artifacts were grave good that had been by choice buried in the caves with the dead , Ramli read . In the pre - Neolithic grave , they commonly let in stone dick ; hematite mineral , orred ochre ; and crystals .
In the grave accent from the Neolithic catamenia , however , the burial commodity included a stone watch bracelet , polished Edward Durell Stone tools and pieces of pottery , he said .
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The “rescue” excavations of 13 limestone caves in the part of the Nenggiri Valley to be flooded began in March 2022 and concluded in October 2023.(Image credit: Z. Ramli/Nenggiri Valley Rescue Excavations)
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The Nenggiri hydroelectric project is expect to cost $ 5 billion Malaysian Ringgit , or more than $ 1 billion USD .
The archaeologists have also recovered tens of thousands of prehistoric artifacts from the Nenggiri Valley caves, including fragments of stone tools, ornaments, and pieces of pottery, like those shown here.(Image credit: Z. Ramli/Nenggiri Valley Rescue Excavations)
As well as providing electricity to Malaysia ’s power grid and water for irrigation project , the dam ’s construction is expected to allow for 2,000 jobs to the Indigenous Orang Asli and other local citizenry , Bernama report .
Butcritics say the dam will negatively impactOrang Asli Greenwich Village along the Nenggiri river and overwhelm transmissible lands and forests .
