Kota Tampan, Lenggong
Kota Tampan provided evidence of the first Palaeolithic culture in the country. This site, situated at latitude 5° 03.31’ north and longitude 100° 58.42’ east, 101 meters above sea level.
Excavations were first carried out in 1938, followed by another one in 1954. Since then, the world has come to know more of the community that existed at Kota Tampan or ‘Tampanian’ in Malaysia. The chronometric dates and verification of the site and its artefacts were only obtained after Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) found a new site through research in 1987.
This survey uncovered the functions of Kota Tampan as a destination for tool making during the Palaeolithic era about 74,000 years ago. Kota Tampan is also a reference site for Palaeolithic culture in South- East Asia as it also has classifications and stone tool making technology of the age.
There is also an on-site exhibition at KT 1987, KT 2005 and at Lenggong Archaeological Museum on early settlements in Malaysia.
The first survey carried out was by Collings (1938, albeit with many issues) and by Sieveking (1958). Research carried out by Zuraina (1989, 2003) at the Kota Tampan site in 1987 – 1989has been able to resolve issues and problems by previous researchers. This site is also used as a reference point for Palaeolithic culture in the region.