And now, a shameless plug…

I’m pleased to announce that the preliminary findings from my research at Gua Tambun in Perak (Malaysia) has been published in this May’s issue of Rock Art Research. It’s a short paper co-authored with my supervisor, Dr. Stephen Chia, about the findings of rock art at the site, including many panels of paintings that have gone unreported until now (hence the title, ‘new’). You can read the abstract after the jump, and order a copy of the journal here.

‘New’ Rock Art from Gua Tambun, Perak, Malaysia
Tan, N. H. and Chia, S.
Rock Art Research, 2010, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 9-18.

The rock art site at Gua Tambun in Perak, Malaysia was first reported in 1959 and was noted for its spectacular collection of rock art with depictions of anthropomorphs, animal figures and abstract shapes. Little scholarly attention was paid to it, however, and much of the interpretations produced thus far on the rock art have been speculative or unverified. The site was revisited by the authors in January 2009 in order to examine, record and study the rock art in detail. During the course of the fieldwork, individual rock art elements were identified and recorded, including a number of ‘new’ motifs, which are presented in this paper for the first time. The total count now stands at slightly over 500 distinct rock art elements, spread over ten distinct panels, making Gua Tambun one of the largest rock art sites in Malaysia, if not the largest.