An excavation in central Perak, Peninsular Malaysia, uncovered a Paleolithic human skeleton, “Perak Man,” estimated to be 10,000 to 11,000 years old.
The Perak Man home is Gua Gunung Runtuh and his burial place was discovered by a team of archeologists from University Sains Malaysia. The skeleton about 10-11 thousand years old, is the oldest found in peninsular and only complete one found so far.
This cave is located near Kampong Ulu Jepai, north of Lenggong.
The skeleton is almost intact except for the missing front part of the cranium and it seems to have belonged to a man about 157 centimeters tall.
He was between 30 to 35 years old and was found buried under 80-90 centimeters of earth with legs tucked in a foetal position, with the right hand on the shoulder and the left hand resting on the stomach. The left lower arm was about 2 centimeters shorter than the right while the left leg was 1 cm longer than the right.
The manner of burial has led scientists to conclude that some sort of of ritual was involved, indicating that religion beliefs had already taken root by then.
This oldest remains has a genetic similarities to the Negrito who now live in the mountainous rainforest of northern Malaysia.
The Negritos were joined by Malaysia’s first immigrant the Senoi, who are thought to have slowly filtered down from central and southern Thailand around 2500 BC.
The Perak Man
