Lenggong Valley

UNESCO-listed archaeological landscape with 1.83 million-year-old stone tools

The Lenggong Valley, in the upper Perak River basin north of Kuala Kangsar, is one of the most important archaeological landscapes in Southeast Asia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012. Open-air sites in the valley have produced stone tools dating back 1.83 million years — the oldest evidence of human technology outside Africa — and a long sequence of habitation through the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.

The Lenggong Archaeology Gallery at Kota Tampan houses the most important finds, including the cast of "Perak Man" and the original stone tools. Visitors can also walk around the open-air sites at Bukit Bunuh, Kota Tampan and Gua Gunung Runtuh. The valley is two hours' drive north of Ipoh; allow a full day if combined with a meal in Lenggong town.

things to do sight
A story
The valley produced **Perak Man**, an almost-complete human skeleton from around 11,000 years ago — the oldest most-complete human remains found in Southeast Asia. He was buried in the foetal position, deliberately, and shows skeletal asymmetry from a developmental condition; his treatment in death suggests a degree of social care unusual at this date.