Lenggong, Perak

Lenggong, Perak (6 September 2015)


Lenggong (GPS: 5.10813, 100.96741) is a small town in Hulu Perak, Malaysia. It is located about 100km north of Ipoh on the Kuala Kangsar-Grik (aka Gerik) road, a highway completed in 2006 to link Kuala Kangsar and Grik. Located beside the Perak River, it is the site of Peninsular Malaysia's most important discovery, the prehistoric skeleton of the 11,000-year-old Perak Man, and West Malaysia only Paleolithic sites.

The Perak Man is one of the most complete prehistoric skeletons found in Southeast Asia. It is also the only prehistoric skeleton in the world with congenital deformity known as Brchymesophalangia Type A2. The skeleton was found buried in a foetal position. He had both legs folded towards the chest. He is a male with a height of 157 cm, and is estimated to be in his 50s¹. The funerary items found with his remains included stone tools and numerous riverine shells. The person is a male aged about forty to forty-five, and is about 154 cm in height.

Map of Lenggong, Perak

Places and sights in Lenggong, Perak

Petrol Stations in Lenggong

Flints at the Lenggong Archaeological Museum (4 February, 2006)


Earthenware at the Lenggong Archaeological Museum (4 February, 2006)


The archaeological sites in Lenggong includes Bukit Jawa, Kota Tampan, Gua Gunung Runtuh and Gua Harimau. In 2012, the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley was inscribed by UNESCO as a cultural heritage site under criterias (iii) and (iv). It is regarded as one of the longest records of the presence of early man within a single locality. According to paleontologists, the Lenggong area bears evidence of a semi-sedentary population from the Paleolithic, Neolithic and Metal ages.

The town is located beside Tasik Raban, a freshwater lake. As a result of its proximity to fresh water, Lenggong is popular for its freshwater fish dishes.

Lenggong was inscribed as World Heritage Site during the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 2 July, 2012 under the title "Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley".

Getting there

Lenggong is located on Route 76 which links Kuala Kangsar with Baling. To reach it from the North-South Expressway (E1), exit the highway at the Kuala Kangsar Interchange (Exit 143). From there take Route 76 in the direction of Baling.

Getting around

Distances are far at Lenggong. It is recommended that you have your own transport, such as a car or even a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Lenggong is on the Map of towns in Perak

References

Back to Perak mainpage; list of Towns in Perak and Towns in Malaysia

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.