ARCHAEOLOGISTS working on the Guar Kepah archaeology gallery have stumbled upon a major find – skeletal remains estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000 years old.

The team from Universiti Sains Malaysia were working on the foundation for the gallery when they dug up the skeleton at the site in northern Seberang Prai, Penang.

The remains were found about 11am on Monday when contractors and USM’s Global Archaeology Research Centre (PPAG) were digging up soil. The remains were in good condition and surrounded by pottery and seashells.

Archaeologist Professor Mokhtar Saidin from PPAG said they found a femur (leg bone) buried just 70cm in the soil.

With the discovery, construction works for the gallery ceased immediately and excavation works started today at the site.

Mokhtar said it was a long awaited discovery because the gallery was to house the skeletal remains of those living in the Neolithic period, not only the objects and tools they had used.

“This is an important discovery that will give us insights into how people lived in that period.

“We have already found many types of shells, animal remains, which tell us of their diet. Now we have the skeletons. The find is complete,” he told a press conference at Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s office today.

Once the remains are excavated, which will take up to two weeks, they will be sent to USM for tests and analyses.

Although carbon-dating tests have not been run to determine the age of the skeletal remains, speaking from his many years of experience, Mokhtar said it was likely the human bones were 5,000 to 6,000 years old.

He added that the skeletal remains found on Monday were in the lowest part of the mound, since the upper parts were removed by British archaeologists who first found remains there in 1860.

“The remains were also found on sea-level sand, which is the lowest culture layer. That indicated the remains were buried some 6,000 years ago.

“There are remnants of pottery next to the bones. It was the culture of the Neolithic people to bury their dead with such items,” he said, adding that he believed the team might find more remains there.

In the Neolithic Age, the dead were buried in shell mounds.

The era is also known as the New Stone Age, when humans developed technology, which started about 10,200 BC in some parts of the Middle East and later in other parts of the world, and ended between 4500 and 2000 BC.

Guar Kepah, which is older than Lembah Bujang in Perak, is the only location in the peninsula with signs of early human settlers who later became mariners.

In 1860, G.W. Earl excavated the area, marking Malaya’s first archaeological site. The 19^th century dig yielded 37 human skeletal remains, which are now kept in Leiden, Holland.

USM archaeologists have been studying the site since 2010.

After studies on the remains are completed, all archaeological finds from the Guar Kepah site will be housed in the gallery, which is funded the state government.

Lim said the state had given Chief Minister Incorporated (CMI) the slightly under 1ha site in Guar Kepah and set aside RM830,000 for phase one of the gallery project.

Today, he announced that the state exco has approved an extra allocation of RM20,000 to facilitate the excavation, following the new discovery.

“This is the only prehistoric site in Penang that reveals early human settlement. We are aggressively committed to preserving this site.

“The state, through CMI, will work with the State Museum Board to manage the gallery.”

Since last year, the state has also relocated and compensated families living at the site. – April 19, 2017.