16,000-year-old cemetery discovered in Malaysia

Archaeologists investigating caves in Malaysia ahead of their flooding for a hydroelectric reservoir have discovered more than a dozen prehistoric burials they think are up to 16,000 years old, Live Science reports.

The caves, in the remote Nenggiri Valley about 135 miles (215 kilometers) north of Kuala Lumpur, will be underwater if the reservoir fills as planned in mid-2027, creating a 20-square-mile (53 square km) lake to feed a 300-megawatt hydroelectric power station.

Zuliskandar Ramli, an archaeologist at the National University of Malaysia, told Live Science that most of the skeletons seemed to be from the pre-Neolithic culture of the region.