MUSEUM KOTA KAYANG

This new museum is situated close to what was historically a fortified area. In fact, the word 'Kota' translates as fort in English. The area is also the burial ground for two 16th century Sultans of Kedah with the remains of a palace surrounded on three sides by limestone outcrops.

The site is marked by two simple mausoleums with gravestones and the remnants of timbers that demarcated the burial sites.

While excavation works were going on during the ground works for the new museum, artifacts from what appear to be the late Neolithic era were found. A bell-mouthed jar of red slip ware, cord marked style, signifying the Ban Kao Neolithic culture of southern Thailand and Malaya was found fairly intact. A similar splayed foot beaker and two excellent polished stone adzes all corresponding to other similar finds in northern Malaya probably date to around 2,000 to 2,500 years in age.

Also found at the same site is what appears to be a die or mould of Indian origin. Other artifacts of Indian origin have been found in the northern regions, especially pottery, and dates back to 2,600 to 2,200 years, corresponding with the finds of the museum site.