UNIVERSITI Kebangsaan Malaysia researchers have discovered a complete ancient skeleton in a cave in rural Gua Musang, shedding more light on prehistoric human communities in the peninsula.

The remains found in Chawan Cave some 45 minutes from Pos Tohoi are believed to be of the Hoabinh tribe and estimated to be some 7,000 years old.

“We believe the remains are 7,000 years old but we still need to go through the dating process in the lab to determine the actual age of the skeleton,” the university’s science officer Muhamad Shafiq Mohd Ali told The Malaysian Insight.

Chawan cave, where the skeleton was found, is almost similar to the Cha cave where human bones were found during excavations in 1935.

Shafiq said this excavation was conducted after the cave was identified as having historical value by previous researchers.

Researchers also found burial items along with the skeleton earlier this month.

“We first found tools made of stone. We continued digging and found the human bones.

“We found them all on the same level. We are sending them to the Museum Department for dating.

“The skeleton was complete, from head to feet. It could most likely belong to a teenage girl,” he said.

The open cave is close to an abandoned Orang Asli settlement.

The oldest skeleton found to date in the peninsula is that of the Perak Man, which was found in 1991 in Gunung Runtuh cave, Bukit Kepala Gajah in Perak’s Lenggong Valley.

It is estimated to be between 10,000 and 11,000 years old. – November 19, 2018.