| Abstract: |
This chapter reviews the current state of knowledge regarding the Hoabinhian in the context of Southeast Asian prehistory, including the variability and distribution of Hoabinhian sites and assemblages and the nature and significance of archaeological data from the Late Pleistocene and Post-Pleistocene in Mainland Southeast Asia. The term “Hoabinhian” was initially applied during the Colonial Period to hunter-gatherer sites, mainly caves, located in Hoa Binh Province of northern Vietnam. Based largely on stone tool morphology, Hoabinhian sites are now widely distributed across Southeast Asia and southern China. Only a few excavated sites have been securely dated, and so, relative dating remains the main chronological approach, based on formal typological criteria. A simple definition of the Hoabinhian concept with regard to tool types should be reevaluated. However, new discoveries have suggested a holistic view of Late Pleistocene and Holocene culture as the analytical methods of explaining how cultural systems work within obvious limitations balance the attention focused on technologies.
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