via Malay Mail, 24 July 2023: Archaeologists uncover 14,000-year-old female skeleton in Nenggiri Valley with hematite, potentially used as face powder and in burial rituals, under conservation study at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for prehistoric human bone characteristics database
Summarising his team’s discovery of the skeletal remains at the site, Zuliskandar told Bernama: “We, in fact, found many pieces of hematite together with the (14,000-year-old) skeleton. There was a piece of hematite in the left hand and this showed the deceased, when alive, had expertise in using hematite as a make-up aid or as a burial ritual.”
He said the excavation team also found two pieces of clear crystals in the eye areas, adding that the valuable minerals were placed in the eyes of the deceased possibly as part of the prehistoric humans’ burial rituals.
“The Orang Asli practice a similar tradition too… they place stones in the eyes of the deceased and in terms of their philosophy, the eyes of the deceased will turn into stone in the grave. Crystal is a type of stone too, so it can also be placed in the eye area,” said Zuliskandar, who is a senior fellow at the Institute of Malay World and Civilisation, UKM.
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