Penang's 6,000-year-old mounds in sad state - Malaysiakini

Guar Kepah (or Shell Mounds), the first archaeological site discovered in Malaysia - in Province Wellesley 153 years ago - is in a sad state, although sitting on Penang government-owned land.

Discovered by English navigator GW Earl in 1860, the land measuring 10,698.8 sq metres (2.643 acres) is not preserved properly as a swiftlet house hasbeen built on the site and jackfruit trees are in luxurious abundance there.

Malaysiakini visited the site yesterday and was disappointed to find that the area, supposedly touted as the site of a prehistoric human settlement, dating back to 5,000 to 6,000 years, had not been fenced up, protected or identified with proper signboards informing the public of its significance.

Despite not alienating (pemberimilikan) the plot to farmer Hor Ah Kaw, who claims that his ancestors lived there for about a century, is allowed to continue farming swiftlets and jackfruits on a temporary licence (TOL).

But the TOL approved by the district office years ago only allowed  residential stay and padi farming there.

Hor, in his 70s, now resides in Kulim, Kedah, but carries on his swiftlet and jackfruit farming activities in Guar Kepar.

On June 16, 2008, he applied to have the land alienated to him, only to be rejected by the state executive council on July15, 2009.

On July 2, Hor's TOL was renewed but was terminated this year yet he continues to work on the site.

On 30 March 2010, Hor expressed his dissatisfaction over the excavation exercise carried out by USM, insisting that he gave them only temporary approval to work on the land.

Met at the site, Hor's wife Ooi Liew Eng said her father-in-law used to live on the land, where her husband and his elder siblings were born.

TOL owner's grouses against USM

"You can imagine just how long we have stayed here," she said, of the land situated along Jalan Guar Kepar also known to locals as Paya Cina.

"We first grew vegetables and then jackfruit since 10 years ago. The swiflet house was only built a few years back," she told Malaysiakini.

"They (USM) came to excavate the place two or three years ago, and I let them use our water and electricity supply," she said.

Ooi (left) said her husband was unhappy about the excavation as the water used flowed back into their home.

"Since the roof was also leaking at that time, we temporarily moved out and stayed in our son's house," she lamented.

Ooi, who claims to be in her 60s, said the family with four children decided to move out when they were no longer given TOL.

She said the excavation team came only once and informed her family of the plan to build a gallery.

Keeping up with the times

"But until now, nothing happened. I don't think the project will be a success. Who wants to visit a gallery here?" she asked.

It is learnt that in 2010, a request had been sent to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and George Town World Heritage Incorporated to seek their views on building a Heritage Gallery to be run by Pusat Penyelidikan Arkeologi Global (PPAG), USM.

A source told Malaysiakini that the PPAG wants an exhibition site in situ at the excavated plot, while USM has agreed to built a tent to protect the site (khemah pemuliharaan and pemeliharaan petak/tapak) costing RM92,000.

The source added that there were plans to build a "Recreational Garden" complete with toilets, a cafe, and a souvenir shop for history enthusiasts and tourists.

At a press conference on Wednesday Lim said the state did not allow the destruction of the site, like what happened to Candi 11 at Lembah Bujang.

Lim was responding to Kedah Menteri Besar Muhkriz Mahathir who countered Penang's criticisms of the Candi 11 wreckage by pointing out the condition of Guar Kepah in his tweet yesterday.

Lim explained that the previous BN government issued the TOL to Hor but it has not been extended but terminated this year, and the state is in the process of reclaiming the land.

"However, excavation work needs funding", said Lim, adding the state had issued a letter to the Tourism and Culture Ministry two months ago, requesting RM3.9million to preserve the site and built a gallery.

"A similar letter had been sent to former minister Rais Yatim", Lim added.

Officials told, but neglect obvious

"We are not blaming anyone for giving the TOL, since it involves a genuine farmer and has not affected the site," he stressed.

Lim said the district office has been told the monitor the site  to prevent is destruction.

However, the area cannot be said to be "not affected" when structures and trees are planted on the site itself where countless tiny shells, already cracked and broken, are visible on the mounds now covered with dead leaves, lallang and mud.

According to research, the mounds reveal a Neolithic burial ritual of using seashells by the early human settlers there, who are believed to have practised the 'Hoabinh' culture and this area should at least be fenced off.

It is learnt that the mounds are part of three hilllocks - A, B and C, which stood in the area known as Kg Guar Kepar (on Lot 2613), Mukim 2, in North Seberang Perai.

Hilllocks A and B, similarly covered with shells, had been demolished prior to 2008 to for tar roads into the village surrounded by panoramic padi fields, located about 3/4 meter sfrom the three pronged Butterworth-Alor Setar road.

In 1861, Earl published two books 'On the Shell Mounds of Province Wellesley, in the Malay Peninsula' and 'Topography and Itinerary of Province Wellesley'.

Research in the area continued until the 1940s and according to several researchers (Huxley, Evans, Callenfels and Mijsberg), early findings revealed 30 skeletons buried with stone tools  beneath the mounds.

The human remains are currently kept in Leiden, Netherlands, and USM begun its research into the area in Jan 2010 with a fund of RM75,000, after request was made by the Malay Heritage Research Committee of the university's Global Archeology Research Center.

So far, 68 plots sized one sq metre each have been excavated by USM researchers.

Other than human remnants, sharpeners, pounding tools, broken china and bone parts of animals (turtles) and pig teeth, were found buried beneath the mounds.