GEORGE TOWN, April 29 — The Guar Kepah Archaeological Gallery is expected to be completed in June, said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He said construction is currently at 94 per cent completion.
“Works on the gallery is according to schedule and it is expected to open in a few months’ time,” he told reporters after attending a cheque presentation ceremony for recipients of heritage building repair incentives.
As for the ancient artefacts, including skeletons, that were being sent back from Netherlands, he said the paperwork is still in progress.
“This is because it is between government to government, a lot of paperwork needs to be completed and it needs to be presented to the Cabinet before the artefacts can be brought back,” he said.
He said the artefacts will be displayed at the Guar Kepah gallery.
It was previously reported by DutchNews.nl that the artefacts were stored at the National Natuurhistorisch Museum in Leiden after British archaeologists dug up skeletons from Guar Kepah in Penang sometime between 1851 and 1934.
The Penang state government had reached out to the Dutch authorities to request the return of the skeletons and other artefacts that were dug up from Guar Kepah.
The skeleton of a woman, named as Penang Woman, was found during excavation at Guar Kepah in Kepala Batas back in 2017.
The skeleton was the first and only remaining Neolithic skeleton found in a shell midden in Malaysia.
A total 41 skeletons from three shell middens — A, B and C — in Guar Kepah were excavated by British archaeologists between 1851 and 1934.
Shell middens refer to mounds of kitchen debris consisting mostly of shells and other food remnants. It is indicative of ancient human settlement and were sometimes used as burial sites.
The existing Guar Kepah Archaeological Gallery displayed a replica of the Penang Woman while the original skeleton is being preserved at the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR).
The state government is now in the midst of constructing a new Guar Kepah Archaeological Gallery at the site to display the Penang Woman and the remaining skeletons that will be brought back from Leiden.
According to Chow, the state is also looking at forming an archaeological tourism network for the northern region with Kedah and upper Perak.
He said the Penang’s Fort Cornwallis and Guar Kepah could be packaged with Bujang Valley in Kedah and Lenggong Valley in Perak as a network of archaeotourism for researchers and those interested in archaeology.
“This can be an attraction and NCIA can work on this too,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the state museum in Farquhar Street that has remained closed since 2017 for restoration works will be opened next month.
Chow said the external works have completed and currently, internal works are being conducted.
“Since Penang will be hosting International Museum Day, the museum will be completed and open next month,” he said.
