Lenggong (Jawi: لڠڬوڠ) is a town, a mukim and a parliamentary constituency in Hulu Perak District, Perak, Malaysia.

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Quick Facts Country, State ...

Lenggong
Town
Seal
Lenggong Location of Lenggong
Coordinates: 5°6′37″N 100°58′8″E
Country	Malaysia
State	Perak
District	Hulu Perak
Government
• Type	Local government
• Body	Lenggong District Council
• President	Mohd Amzari Mohd Arzami
Time zone	UTC+8 (Malaysian Standard Time)
Website	www.mdlg.gov.my

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Quick Facts Lenggong District Council Majlis Daerah Lenggongمجليس دايره لڠڬوڠ, Type ...

Lenggong District Council Majlis Daerah Lenggong مجليس دايره لڠڬوڠ
Local Government Act 1976
Type
Type	Municipal Council of Lenggong
History
Founded	1 December 1979
Leadership
President	Mohd Amzari Mohd Arzami
Motto
Bersatu Teguh Firmly United
Meeting place
Jalan Alang Iskandar, 33400, Lenggong, Perak Darul Ridzuan
Website
www.mdlg.gov.my

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Quick Facts UNESCO World Heritage Site, Location ...

Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location	Hulu Perak District, Perak, Malaysia
Includes	Bukit Bunuh – Kota Tampan Bukit Jawa Bukit Kepala Gajah Bukit Gua Harimau
Criteria	Cultural: (iii)(iv)
Reference	1396
Inscription	2012 (36th Session)
Area	398.64 ha (985.1 acres)
Buffer zone	1,786.77 ha (4,415.2 acres)
Coordinates	5°4′4.47″N 100°58′20.38″E
Location of Lenggong in Malaysia

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Lenggong is situated in the Lenggong Valley, sandwiched between the Bintang and Titiwangsa Ranges. It is a rural area, with small kampongs surrounded by green vegetation and limestone hills with numerous caves. The Lenggong Valley is one of Peninsular Malaysia's most important areas for archaeology, as excavations have revealed many traces of Malaysia's prehistory, with finds such as cave drawings, jewellery, pottery, weapons and stone tools. It is the site of one of the oldest known place of human activity in the Peninsula. The Lenggong Valley was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site on 30 June 2012.^[1]

Lenggong is accessible by trunk roads connecting it with neighbouring towns and cities. The town of Lenggong is situated some 100 kilometres north of Ipoh on the Kuala Kangsar to Grik road (highway 76). The road to Lenggong is surrounded mostly by oil palm estates and jungles. As cows and buffalo are part of the agriculture, they are often seen along the road. The jungles (about million years old) are now in danger of heavy illegal logging.

To visit Lenggong, from the North–South Expressway take Exit No.143 at Kuala Kangsar – that's about 3 hours away from Kuala Lumpur. Then take Route 76 to Lenggong. The new highway is open and has replaced the old scenic kampung road.

The Lenggong federal constituency is represented in the Dewan Rakyat of the Malaysian Parliament by Dato Shamsul Anuar bin Haji Nasarah from UMNO.^[2] Lenggong also contributes two seats to the Perak State Legislative Assembly: Kota Tampan and Kenering, which were also held by UMNO.

Lenggong is also an autonomous sub-district (daerah kecil), consisting of Lenggong town and the nearby communes of Durian Pipit and Temelong.

In Malaysia, the earliest remains is a human skull found in the Niah Caves in Sarawak and dates back some 40,000 years.^[3][4] Almost all of the archaeological remains found in Lenggong have been associated with caves.^[5] The two exceptions are the Kota Tampan and Bukit Jawa sites, which are Peninsular Malaysia's only Palaeolithic sites.^[6]

Kota Tampan is the earliest known site of human inhabitants. Excavations at Kota Tampan which began in 1938 revealed an undisturbed stone tool production area. Pebble tools were made using equipment such as anvils and hammer stones. Some 50,000 pieces of stone have been found and recorded. The culture at Kota Tampan is referred to as Tampanian. The workshop was initially dated at 30,000 years old, but this figure has now been revised to 75,000 years. Although the Kota Tampan workshop site is currently on a hillside, and in an oil palm plantation, the original site was on a lake shore. It is thought that the workshop was disbanded roughly 75,000 years ago due to a volcanic eruption at Lake Toba in Sumatra, approximately 250 kilometres away. There is a large gap of 17,000 years between Kota Tampan and the next archaeological site, Gua Gunung Runtuh, which has been attributed to the devastating effects of the Toba eruption.^{[citation needed]}

Gua Gunung Runtuh is situated in Bukit Kepala Gajah or Elephant's Head Hill. In the same hill other caves have yielded archaeological remains such as stone tools and food remnants. The caves were probably used as temporary shelters as seasonal or hunting camps, whereas Gua Gunung Runtuh was lived in for longer periods. Gua Harimau, or Tiger Cave, is a site about 3 kilometres away from Gua Gunung Runtuh which was probably used as a burial ground about 3,000 – 5,000 years ago as seven human skeletons have been found at the site along with bronze axes and various articles of jewellery. The bronze axes show that there was an early Bronze tradition in Malaysia, as well as in north Thailand and China. It is the earliest use of metal in south-east Asia. Porcelain containers of various shapes and sizes were also found containing meat and snail shells. Archaeological digs in other caves have revealed pottery, axes stone tools and flakes. Food also remains, and in some sites, human bones. Unfortunately, some caves have been disturbed by guano diggers and any remains have been lost.^{[citation needed]}

More recently, a team excavated Bukit Jawa, which has been dated at 200,000 years old. Bukit Jawa is therefore far older than the Kota Tampan workshop, which is just 6 km away.^{[citation needed]}

Negrito cave drawings have been found at various sites but are not prehistoric, as they are only about 100 years old. Gua Badak is one of the main places for these drawings, situated about 10 kilometres north of Lenggong. The Lanoh Negrito made the illustrative recordings of their every life. The charcoal drawings were first discovered and documented in the 1920s by Ivor Evans. They were then thought to have been lost by quarrying, but were rediscovered in 1992. Modern graffiti covers some of the original drawings. The Negritos used the caves as shelters during hunting trips. The sketches depict things such as animals, people, trees, mats, bicycles and cars. Apart from the charcoal drawings, they made white pictures by scrapping away the limestone rock.^{[citation needed]}

Most of the old troglodytes or cave dwellers of the Malay Peninsula temporarily lived in caves and rock shelters. They lived mainly by hunting, evidence shown by the remains of animal bones and molluscs. The people may have painted their bodies using red iron oxide. They used stones and slabs for grinding up substances such as salt, and all their tools were made of stones. Flakes were used as knives or scrappers. So it can be seen that the Lenggong area is very important as it contains much evidence relating to the prehistory of Malaysia. It is the oldest area where remains have been found, and all the sites are situated conveniently within a small area.^{[citation needed]}

Gua Puteri is a natural tunnel which pierces Bukit Kajang. There are no archaeological findings here, but the cave is known for its legends. Two stalagmites are believed to be a prince and princess who guard the cave. Locals say that if children climb up the stalagmites they will fall sick.^{[citation needed]}

Lenggong is also famous for its freshwater fish dishes. One local delicacy from freshwater fish is pekasam, where the fish is marinated in salt and toasted rice, followed by fermentation for two weeks. Another specialty of Lenggong is the fruit salad kebebe.