Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz hailed the proposed nomination as the creation of a valuable archaeo-tourism product for Malaysia. “Taking note that Borobudur in Indonesia was founded in 8AD and Cambodia’s Angkor Wat in 12AD, it points to Sungai Batu as the cradle of the South-east Asian civilisation,” she announced at the Old Kedah International Conference here yesterday. “With carbon dating evidence showing that the iron smelters had existed since 535BC, this puts the civilisation on par with the Roman era of 753BC to 420BC. “Chronometric dating suggests that Sungai Batu saw the earliest civilisation in South-east Asia, laid on the foundation of the iron smelting trade. Heritage Commissioner Dr Zainah Ibrahim announced that a working committee would be formed to produce the nomination dossier to raise the Sungai Batu Archaeology Site to an international level.
If successful, this would lead to a heritage park portraying an ancient civilisation that dominated South-east Asia about 1,000 years before the earliest sultans shaped the territories that formed present-day Malaysian states.
SUNGAI PETANI: The ancient ruins used by iron smelters and exporters who thrived in Bujang Valley between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago will be nominated for listing as a Unesco archaeological heritage site.
