Paleolithic Hoabinhian complex of Mang Chieng cave in Northern Vietnam
- Authors: Kandyba A.V.1
-
Affiliations:
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- Issue: Vol 9, No 2 (2025)
- Pages: 103-119
- Section: History, archeology, religion, culture
- URL: https://journal-vniispk.ru/2618-9453/article/view/310736
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.54631/VS.2025.92-685735
- ID: 310736
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Abstract
The article presents the results of a study of the Mang Chieng cave, the materials of which date back to the late stages of the Paleolithic of Vietnam. The Paleolithic of Vietnam contains a large number of Pleistocene sites, but the lack of reliable geochronology meant that the possibilities of reconstructing the dynamics of the development of ancient human populations using only traditional methods (typology of artifacts, analysis of the species composition of fauna and flora) are severely limited due to the specific nature of the natural environment and the characteristics of sedimentation of this region. This article examines in detail the archaeological collections, primarily the tool component of the Hoabinhian. The morphological features of stone products are highlighted, the presence of a tool component is noted, including sumatralites, stone axes, short axes, characteristic of the cultural and chronological era of Hoabinhian. The discovered faunal composition indicates the active hunting activity of the inhabitants of the Mang Chieng cave. According to the results of micromorphological and stratigraphic studies, sedimentation of the lower Hoabinhian layer occurred in a humid climate, and the upper two in drier natural environments. Based on absolute dating data, the manifestation of the Hoabinhian in Mang Chieng Cave can be dated to the period of 18 thousand years ago Comprehensive studies of cave complexes in Northern Vietnam in the last decade confirm the uniqueness of this Hoabinhian phenomenon as an example of relatively stable human adaptation to tropical latitudes at the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene.
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##article.viewOnOriginalSite##About the authors
Alexander V. Kandyba
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Author for correspondence.
Email: arhkandyba@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0985-9121
Ph.D. (Histoty), Senior Researcher
Russian Federation, NovosibirskReferences
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