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archaeologist investigating cave in Malaysia ahead of their flooding for a hydroelectric reservoir have attain more than a dozen prehistoric interment they think are up to 16,000 geezerhood old .
The caves , in the outside Nenggiri Valley about 135 Swedish mile ( 215 kilometers ) north of Kuala Lumpur , will be underwater if the source fill as planned in mid-2027 , make a 20 - square - mile ( 53 square kilometre ) lake to feed a 300 - megawatt hydroelectric power 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 frame seemed to be from the pre - Neolithic culture of the region .
Some scholars suggest this was a branch of the hunter - gatherer Hoabinhian culture , who made typical Harlan Fisk Stone tools found in other parts of Southeast Asia , fromsouthwest Chinato Indonesia . Scientists also think the Hoabinhian hoi polloi used many wild plant — including capsicum pepper plant , broad noodle and betel nut — that are domesticated in the region today .
Ramli , who head the digging at the Nenggiri Valley , said his team had find a total of 16 mortal buried in 13 limestone cave at four 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)
concern : Look into the eyes of a Stone Age womanhood in this unbelievably natural facial reconstruction
Cave finds
Fifteen of the frame were swallow in a crouched or " fully bend " position , which indicates a pre - Neolithic burial in this region , Ramli say . But the other skeleton had been buried in an elongated place , and dating of the aqueous layers in the cave , includingradiocarbon geological dating , paint a picture it originated in the Neolithic period about 6,000 years ago .
As well as the 16 skeletal frame , the archaeologists recovered more than 71,000 prehistorical artifacts from the cave .
Many are worked fragments of stone pecker , but the excavators also come up thousands of slice of pottery , as well as I. F. Stone ornamentation .
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 administration - ownedBernama news agencyreported that the archaeological work at the Nenggiri Valley sites began in March 2022 and concluded in October 2023 . One of the most crucial find was a complete human skeleton in a cave called Gua Keledung Kecil that is judge to date between 14,000 and 16,000 age old .
" This is the most arrant and oldest skeleton in a to the full flexed view chance in the land , " Ramli secernate Live Science .
Grave goods
Many of the artifact were life-threatening goods that had been deliberately buried in the cave with the dead , Ramli said . In the pre - Neolithic graves , they usually include Harlan F. Stone tools ; hematite minerals , orred ochre ; and crystals .
In the grave accent from the Neolithic period , however , the burial goods include a stone bangle , svelte stone tools and piece of clayware , he say .
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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 expected to be $ 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 power grid and water for irrigation projects , the dekameter ’s construction is expect to provide 2,000 Job to the Indigenous Orang Asli and other local multitude , Bernama report .
Butcritics say the dyke will negatively impactOrang Asli village along the Nenggiri river and submerse hereditary lands and wood .
