Late Palaeolithic of Vietnam

Alexander Kandyba1*, NGUYỄN Gia Đối2, and NGUYỄN Khắc Sử2

The study of the Palaeolithic of Southeast Asia involves the investigation of a rather specific region with special conditions of sedimentation and preservation of archaeological material. As in the Late Palaeolithic in southern China, pebble and flake industries coexisted in the Late Palaeolithic in Vietnam. As in southern China, flake assemblages are sporadic in Vietnam (Nguom culture). These sites are characterised by a large number of tools made on small and medium flakes, simple parallel flaking without preliminary preparation, and a predominance of scrapers in the tool kit. In contrast, assemblages from many sites of this period, especially open-air sites in this vast region, belong to the pebble tool industry (Hoabinhian culture). During Russian-Vietnamese works in 2010-2014 and 2018 with the participation of Australian geochronology specialists, the multi-layered caves of Con Moong, Diem, and Mang Chieng were studied. It was also established that the active development of the Con Moong cave by ancient man may have begun about 50000 years ago. The presence of chopping (choppers) and unifacial tools (sumatralites and short axes) in the tool components, as well as the dominance of pebble splitting in the primary cleavage, characterise the archaeological complexes as close to the Hoabinhian culture.