Community heritage engagement in Malaysian archaeology: A case from the prehistoric rock art site of Tambun

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper explores contemporary community archaeology in Malaysia, through the consideration of the example of the Prehistoric Rock Art site of Gua Tambun. It argues that the existing community heritage engagement practices often disenfranchise the community knowledge, and highly conform to a top-down model. Our investigations pointed out a pattern of exclusion, where the inclusion of the local community in management planning is relatively low. In response to these issues, a community-driven engagement project has been developed, aiming at encouraging community engagement in archaeology through the promotion of awareness and local capacity building centre to a bottom-up approach. Given that the community-driven approach is a relatively new alternative in Malaysian heritage management, this project serves as a new benchmark to reflect the pitfalls and prospects in the future delivery of a sustainable conservation management of archaeological heritage in Malaysia.