Editing Perak (section)

=== Prehistory ===
{{main|Prehistoric Malaysia}}
[[File:Gua Tambun5.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Tambun rock art]] of the [[Neolithic]] era in [[Tambun]] near [[Ipoh]]]]

Among the prehistoric sites in Malaysia where artefacts from the [[Middle Palaeolithic]] era have been found are [[Bukit Bunuh]], Bukit Gua Harimau, Bukit Jawa, Bukit Kepala Gajah, and Kota Tampan in the [[Lenggong|Lenggong Archaeological Heritage Valley]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bagyo Prasetyo|author2=Retno Handini|title=Sangiran: Man, Culture, and Environment in Pleistocene Times|year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NT1YyR9lOVEC&pg=PA189|publisher=Yayasan Obor Indonesia|pages=189–|id=GGKEY:FYGSB5XXWPX}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Sanz, Nuria|title=Human origin sites and the World Heritage Convention in Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3QPBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA212|date=27 October 2014|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-100043-0|pages=212–}}</ref> Of these, Bukit Bunuh and Kota Tampan are [[ancient lake]]side sites, the geology of Bukit Bunuh showing evidence of [[Impact event|meteoric impact]].<ref name="Saad2016">{{cite book|author=Rosli Saad|title=Geophysical Studies Of Bukit Bunuh Meteorite Crater Evidence (Penerbit USM)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCeNDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT25|year=2016|publisher=Penerbit USM|isbn=978-967-461-004-3|pages=25–}}</ref> The 10,000-year-old skeleton known as [[Lenggong#Perak Man|Perak Man]] was found inside the Bukit Gunung Runtuh cave at Bukit Kepala Gajah.<ref>{{cite book|author=Zuraina Majid|title=The Perak man and other prehistoric skeletons of Malaysia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vSuAAAAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia|isbn=978-983-3391-12-7}}<br />{{*}} {{cite book|author=Stephen Oppenheimer|title=Out of Eden: The Peopling of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0quSCgAAQBAJ&pg=PP115|date=1 March 2012|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-1-78033-753-1|pages=115–}}<br />{{*}} {{cite book|author1=Vicki Cummings|author2=Peter Jordan|author3=Marek Zvelebil|title=The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter-gatherers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4lSAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA348|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-955122-4|pages=348–}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2005/07/21/prehistoric-find-in-perak-cave|title=Prehistoric find in Perak cave|work=The Star|date=21 July 2005|access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref> Ancient tools discovered in the area of Kota Tampan, including [[anvil]]s, [[lithic core|cores]], [[debitage]], and [[hammerstone]]s, provide information on the migrations of ''[[Homo sapiens]]''.<ref name="Saad2016"/> Other important [[Neolithic]] sites in the country include Bukit Gua Harimau, Gua Badak, Gua Pondok, and [[Padang Rengas]], containing evidence of human presence in the [[Mesolithic]] [[Hoabinhian]] era.<ref>{{cite book|author=Abu Talib Ahmad|title=Museums, History and Culture in Malaysia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=krl1BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|date=10 October 2014|publisher=NUS Press|isbn=978-9971-69-819-5|pages=59–}}</ref><ref name="Perak brief history">{{cite web|url=https://www.perak.gov.my/index.php/en/state-gov/about-perak/brief-history|title=Brief History of Perak State|publisher=Government of Perak|access-date=7 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907015818/https://www.perak.gov.my/index.php/en/state-gov/about-perak/brief-history|archive-date=7 September 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Perak Axe (BM).JPG|thumb|right|Iron socketed axe from Perak, [[British Museum]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1880-1166|title=axe &#124; British Museum|website=The British Museum}}</ref> {{circa|100 [[Anno Domini|BC–AD]] 200}}]]

In 1959, a British artillery officer stationed at an inland army base during the [[Malayan Emergency]] discovered the [[Tambun rock art]], identified by archaeologists as the largest [[rock art]] site in the Malay Peninsula. Most of the paintings are located high above the cave floor, at an elevation of {{convert|6|-|10|m}}.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/BIPPA/article/viewFile/9967/11883|title=Current Research on Rock Art at Gua Tambun, Perak, Malaysia|author1=Noel Hidalgo Tan|author2=Stephen Chia|journal=Centre for Global Archaeological Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association|via=[[University of Washington Libraries]]|volume=17|issue=2|year=2011|pages=93–108 (1–16)|format=PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010032242/https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/BIPPA/article/viewFile/9967/11883|archive-date=10 October 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Dominik Bonatz|author2=Andreas Reinecke|author3=Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz|title=Crossing Borders: Selected Papers from the 13th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cq3GBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA181|date=1 January 2012|publisher=NUS Press|isbn=978-9971-69-642-9|pages=181–}}</ref> [[Seashell]]s and [[coral]] fragments scattered along the cave floor are evidence that the area was once underwater.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2006/12/04/gua-tambun-rediscovered/|title=Gua Tambun rediscovered|author=Christina Koh|work=The Star|date=4 December 2006|access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref>

The significant numbers of statues of [[Hindu deities]] and of [[the Buddha]] found in [[Bidor]], Kuala Selensing, Jalong, and Pengkalan Pegoh indicate that, before the [[Islam in Southeast Asia|arrival of Islam]], the inhabitants of Perak were mainly [[Hinduism|Hindu]] or [[Buddhism|Buddhist]]. The influence of Indian culture and beliefs on society and values in the Malay Peninsula from early times is believed to have culminated in the semi-legendary [[Gangga Negara]] kingdom.<ref name="Perak brief history"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ReclAAAAMAAJ&q=Gangga+Negara|year=1936|publisher=The Branch}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Monographs on Malay Subjects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DCcaAQAAMAAJ&q=perak+buddhist+prehistory|year=1941}}</ref> The ''[[Malay Annals]]'' mention that Gangga Negara at one time fell under [[Thailand|Siamese]] rule, before Raja Suran of Thailand sailed further south down the Malay Peninsula.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2005/02/08/lost-city-is-not-kota-gelanggi/|title=Lost city is 'not Kota Gelanggi'|author=Mazwin Nik Anis|work=The Star|date=8 February 2005|access-date=10 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114115551/https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2005/02/08/lost-city-is-not-kota-gelanggi/|archive-date=14 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>