Welcome to Gunung Panjang, where you can discover numerous prehistoric rock paintings.
This EarthCache is located in Kinta Valley at Gunung Panjang, approximately 7 km east of Ipoh.
Type of EarthCache: Rate of denudation (erosion).
Introduction
The prehistoric rock paintings of Gunung Panjang were thought to be prehistoric cave paintings of Gua Tambun. The cave was thought to have collapsed, exposing the cave paintings as rock paintings. For this reason, they might sometimes also be referred to as the prehistoric cave paintings of Gua Tambun. However, there is no cave, and the site resembles a rock shelter instead.
The Gunung Panjang rock paintings depict humans in different postures, a human-like reptile, even the dugong, sea otter, dolphin-like monster, deer, tapir, wild boar and indecipherable abstract images. Incidentally, from this limestone massif one can also enjoy a panoramic view over Ipoh City.
It is worth mentioning that to date, Tanjung Panjang holds the only testimony of prehistoric paintings surviving modern times Peninsular Malaysia. Another site at Langkawi was destroyed by human activity, while a couple of sites can be found in Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian states on Borneo.
If you are looking for a unique location in Ipoh, Gunung Panjang will not disappoint!
Early research
The rock paintings were discovered in 1959 by Lt. RL Rawlings, a British army officer with the 2nd Battalion of the 6th QEO Gurkha Rifles while on a routine training exercise. He realised that these intriguing drawings were not the usual graffiti and this was confirmed shortly thereafter by a team from the National Museum who identified them as Neolithic rock art.
Prior to 2009, the literature dedicated to these prehistoric paintings is relatively limited, with most of them being field reports produced by Matthews2/3 and Faulstich7/8. Matthews’ investigation identified approximately 80 forms of rock art and unearthed 49 stone implements, said to have been attributed to "Hoabihnian" culture (approximately 10,000-5,000 years ago, varies across regions in Southeast Asia), whereas Faulstich recorded more rock art and reported the discovery of Neolithic cord-marked pottery sherds. The National Museum of Malaysia currently dates the rock paintings from 5,000 to 2,000 years old, but has yet to release a more specific date.
In 2009, extensive archaeological research was conducted by Tan and Chia12 and a total of more than 600 forms of rock art scattered through 11 panels across the wall were documented. According to Tan and Chia, these consist predominantly of zoo morphs (animal forms), anthropomorphs (human shapes), geometric features, botanic shapes and abstract shapes.
The drawings are likely created using hematite, a mineral form of iron oxide (Fe2O3).
Preservation efforts
These unique paintings were gazetted by the Ipoh City Council in 1986, and declared national heritage by the Department of National Heritage on January 10, 2010. Unfortunately, the site is completely exposed to the open air, and there is nothing to prevent further decay from natural weathering.
Of greater concern is the weakening of the cliff face from activity at a nearby quarry. This has led to cracks appearing in some of the panels. Human damage has also played a part, including spraying graffiti over some of the paintings and using marker pens to draw over some of the images as well as lighting fires and general vandalism. The lower-lying motifs are almost all gone as they were most easy to vandalise. Fortunately, most of the important panels are located 5 to 8 metres from the floor surface, where people cannot climb up.
Prehistoric rock paintings at Gunung Panjang.
These photos really do not do them justice!
(Source: Barnyard Dawg, 2017)
Kinta Valley
The Kinta Valley is drained by the Kinta River (and its tributaries), which is itself a tributary of the Perak River. The valley stretches from Chemor in the north and Chenderiang in the south. The greater part of the drainage basin of the Kinta River is a wide expanse of alluvium-covered, low-lying land built of limestone with subordinate schist (minor quantity of schist which is a metamorphic rock), folded along a north-south axis. It is flanked on either side by granite mountain ranges, the Kledang Range to the west, and the Main Range to the east. The valley gradually widens towards the south4.
Geology of Gunung Panjang
Peaking at a maximum height of 352 metres, Gunung Panjang is the 6th highest of the 45 limestone hills found in Perak's Kinta Valley. Ingham and Bradford (1960) classified Gunung Panjang as part of the Calcareous Series that formed limestone hills consisting almost entirely of crystalline (composed of crystals) limestone, which is lacking in fossils, of possible Permo-Carboniferous age (360 to 250 million years ago). Later work by Suntharalingam5 on fossiliferous (containing fossils) limestone beds in Kampar established an age range of Silurian to Lower Permian (440 to 280 million years ago) for the Kampar Limestone. Currently, through correlation, the Kinta Limestone is taken to be of the same age as the Kampar Limestone giving a possible age of Gunung Panjang as Silurian to Lower Permian (440 to 280 million years ago).
Quaternary sediments of Kinta Valley
Quaternary sediments are generally less than 10 metres thick north of Ipoh, but increase in thickness, somewhat irregularly, southwards and are close to 20 metres thick at Kampar. Sediments, exceeding 20 metres thick, also occur locally, e.g., in deep troughs along the granite-limestone contact close to the margins of the valley. Although most of the deposits are clearly of fluvial origin, with no real evidence of any marine deposition, some of the 'alluvium (a deposit of clay, silt, sand, and gravel left by flowing streams in a river valley)’, especially massive clays and very badly slumped areas, is enigmatic in character11.
The Pleistocene (2 million years to 10,000 years ago) sediments of the Kinta Valley have long been known as the Old Alluvium1, but they are now mapped as the Simpang Formation. Locally, overlying the Simpang Formation and filling channels and depressions, are unconsolidated deposits of sand and gravel with some peat and clay, that has been known as Young Alluvium1, but now mapped as the Beruas Formation (Holocene alluvium – 10,000 years ago to present day). These deposits are easily distinguishable from those of the Simpang Formation by several criteria: the Beruas Formation is unconsolidated with generally well-preserved bedding structures and extremely rare signs of slumping or disturbance6. North of Batu Gajah, the Beruas Formation is less than 15 metres thick and occurs in linear belts flanking the present-day major streams, its upper surface is flat and at the level of the general valley floor11.
Gunung Panjang, sights at the limestone massive.
(Source: Barnyard Dawg, 2017)
The EarthCache
There are evidences that the alluvium (a deposit of clay, silt, sand, and gravel left by flowing streams in a river valley) of the Beruas Formation was reached the height of the prehistoric rock paintings;
1. The rock painting is some 12 metres above the limestone hill ledge.
2. Presence of the gastropod fossils, Brotia costula on the limestone hill ledge.
3. Sea level of Peninsular Malaysia & Sunda Shelf in South-east Asia at its highest.
It would be reasonable to assume that, at one point, ground level was as high as the prehistoric rock paintings; otherwise, some form of supporting structures would have been built by the prehistoric men to paint on the limestone hill walls.
Brotia costula is an edible river snail that can be found in present day riverbanks. The presence of Brotia costula fossils on the limestone hill ledge at the prehistoric rock-painting site is indicative that the riverbanks were as high as the limestone hill ledge. Based on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating techniques, the shells from the foot of Gunung Panjang has been dated back to 9980 ± 50 years before present while the age of the shells from the floor of Gua Tambun is only 5330 ± 40 years (before present here refers to the date of processing, i.e. June 13, 2011).
Research works by Hanebuth et al.9 and Kamaludin H.10 on sea level changes indicate that the sea level of Peninsular Malaysia & Sunda Shelf in South-east Asia was at its highest some 5,000 to 2,000 years ago (Figure 1 of GC7CJG9). This would provide a high base level for river systems in the region.
At present, the prehistoric rock painting at Gunung Panjang is many metres above the general ground level (valley floor). From the above evidence, it is obvious that all the river sediments reaching as high as the prehistoric rock painting have been denudated (eroded) away. The exercise of this EarthCache is to find the rate of denudation of the alluvium (a deposit of clay, silt, sand, and gravel left by flowing streams in a river valley) of the Beruas Formation at the prehistoric rock painting at Gunung Panjang.
An example of Brotia costula fossils.
(Source: Barnyard Dawg, October 2017)
How to claim this EarthCache?
Using your GPS, determine the elevation (in metres) at ground level at the start of the staircase to the prehistoric rock painting (waypoint R1/REF1). Let this elevation be Z1. Likewise, determine the elevation (in metres) of the limestone hill ledge at the prehistoric rock painting (coordinates of this EarthCache). Let this elevation be Z2. It is given that the height of the rock painting above the limestone hill ledge is 12 metres.
Calculate the height of the prehistoric rock painting above the present-day ground level (valley floor) as (Z2+12-Z1) metres.
Given that the age range of the prehistoric rock painting to be from 5,000 to 2,000 years, calculate the minimum rate of denudation as [(Z2+12-Z1)/5,000]*1,000 millimetres/year and the maximum rate of denudation as [(Z2+12-Z1)/2,000]*1,000 millimetres/year.
Send me the following;
1. On the first line: "GC76TG3 Gunung Panjang - Neolithic Rock Art".
2. The answers to the following questions;
- Value of Z1 and Z2 in metres.
- The minimum and maximum rate of denudation in millimetres/year.
- What is the effect of denudation on the prehistoric rock paintings?
- Should the rate of denudation continue; how do you see the site evolve?
3. Provide a photo of yourself or a personal item to prove you have visited the site.*
References
1 Walker, D., 1956. Studies on the Quaternary of the Malay Peninsula. I. Alluvial deposits of Perak and the relative levels of land and sea. Journal Federation Museum, 1 & 2, (New Series), 19-34. 2 Matthews, J.M., 1959. Rock paintings near Ipoh. Malaya in History 52: 22-25. 3 Matthews, J.M., 1960. A note on rock paintings recently discovered near Ipoh, Perak, Federation of Malaya, Man, Vol.60. pp.1-3. 4 Ingham, F.T. and Bradford, E.F., 1960. The geology and mineral resources of the Kinta Valley, Perak. Federation of Malaya Geological Survey District Memoir, 9, 347 pp. 5 Suntharalingam, T., 1968. Upper Palaezoic Stratigraphy of the area west of Kampar, Perak. Geological Society of Malaysia Bulletin, 1, 1-15. 6 Sivam, S.P., 1969. Quaternary alluvial deposits in the north Kinta Valley, Perak. Unpubl. M.Sc. thesis, Dept. of Geology, University of Malaya. 7 Faulstich, Paul, 1984. Preliminary report on the rock art of Ipoh, Malaysia. Rock Art Research, 1, 141-142. 8 Faulstich, Paul, 1985. Rock Art in Malaysia. 9 Hanebuth, T., Stattegger, K. & Grootes, P.M., 2000. Rapid flooding of the Sunda Shelf: a late glacial sea-level record. Science, 288, 1033-1035. 10 Kamaludin Hassan, 2004. The postglacial and Holocene periods. In: Nik Hassan Shuhaimi (ed) Early History, The Encyclopaedia of Malaysia, Archipelago Press, 16-17. 11 Raj, J.K., Tan, D.N.K. and Wan Hasiah Abdullah, 2009. Cenozoic Stratigraphy. In: Hutchison, C.S. & Tan, D.N.K. (eds.), 2009. Geology of Peninsular Malaysia. UM & GSM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 165-166. 12 Tan, N. H., & Chia, S., 2010. 'New'Rock Art from Gua Tambun, Perak, Malaysia. Rock Art Research: The Journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA), 27(1), 9.
* Effective immediately from 10 June 2019, photo requirements are permitted on EarthCaches. This task is not optional, it is an addition to existing logging tasks! Logs that do not meet all requirements posed will no longer be accepted.
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Finding the answers to an EarthCache can often be challenging, and many people tend to shy away from these caches because of this. However, it is my opinion that geocaching is also meant to be a fun family experience that simply aims to introduce interesting and unique locations such as this one. Flexibility on logging requirements, however, can only be applied if it can be established that you have actually taken the time to visit the site. For this reason, a proper log describing your adventure accompanied by a good number of photos would be much appreciated.
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