| Abstract: |
English summary on page 16 as follows: The paper examines the influence of tropical environment on human subsistence patterns of Southeast Asian prehistory. The rainforest and monsoon forest are highly generalized terrestial ecosystems which have been occupied by broad spectrum hunting-gathering populations since the Pleistocene period. The small animal biomass of tropical forests does not favour hunting. The gathering of wild food plants and marine or freshwater shellfish was the major economic activity. Animal protein was obtained in part through fishing. In the marghinal transition zones or ecozones, some communities of hunter-gatherers, as the hoabinhians and Quynhvanians in Vietnam, have established a relatively sedentary settlement. Emerging among the generalized gatherers, the incipient agriculture was a polycultural cultivation with the prominence of vegeculture. Animal husbandry always played a small role in farmers' economy. The prehistoric technology in Southeast Asiawas also conditioned by ecological factors. Most of the stone artifacts were maintenance toolsfor wood work while most of the wxtractive tools were made of bamboo and other materials derived from tropical plants. The maintenance tools were very generalized and the extractive tools were very specialized.
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