The first half of this volume traces Malaysia's prehistory, covering the debate on the dating and origins of Malaysia's earliest inhabitants. It examines the technological and artistic evidence for these and for the various phases and varieties of settlement patterns, economies and belief systems. The second half of the book reconstructs Malaysia's protohistoric period from about the end of the first century CE to the beginning of the 15th century, revealing how archaeological finds and textual sources, primarily the narratives of foreign travellers, have helped archaeologists to locate the remnants of early kingdoms and port sites, and to speculate on the location of others. Although Malaysia's hot, wet climate has affected the number of surviving architectural remnants and artefacts, archaeological excavations have nevertheless yielded an abundance of fascinating remains which will provide readers with a new understanding of Malaysia's early history, much of it not published outside academic journals.

Editor: Prof Dato' Dr Nik Hassan Shuhaimi Nik Abdul Rahman
ISBN: 978-981-3018-42-6