Objects, believed to be linked to the ancient Bujang Valley civilisation, were discovered at a fruit orchard in Kedah two weeks ago.
The New Straits Times reports that the ceramic jar-like objects could have been part of an ancient furnace used for smelting iron.
Universiti Sains Malaysia Centre for Global Archaeological Research director Prof Mokhtar Saidin said the objects could date back to the first century.
The objects were reportedly discovered by a farmer. Mokhtar said his team studied the photographs of both objects and said it looked similar to seven ancient furnaces discovered in Jenjang, 17 km away, back in 2010.
“It is possible that the artefacts are the remnants of the oldest civilisation found in the Bujang Valley and Sungai Batu, as the site was once located only 50m from Sungai Muda, which was the main route for traders.”
“We will study the artefacts and if they are part of a furnace from the first century, it proves that iron smelting was already carried out in early civilisation,” he was quoted as saying.
