Abstract
The article discusses the research of surface complexes from the Mount Do site discovered in 1960 in Vietnam. The difficulties of studying that site are both objective, resulting from the lack of reliable geological and biological context, and subjective, associated with a specific scholarly paradigm. These problems may become the starting points for further discussions, one of which is cultural and chronological attribution of the surface complexes from the Mount Do site. Initially, based on the typological analysis and geomorphological position of the site, the time of the archaeological collection was established as the Middle Pleistocene. Subsequently, these conclusions were criticized by a number of experts. In 2020, a small part of the archaeological evidence from the Mount Do site was examined by the authors of this article, since surface finds of recent years still remained unpublished. The discoveries of the Early Paleolithic industries in Southeast Asia have significantly changed the views on the morphology of lithic artifacts, revealing completely different typological series of tools. Thus, bifacial tools which are sometimes called handaxes and which are one of distinctive markers of Early Paleolithic stone tools, were also made of pebbles following completely different production technique. All this suggests that the surface complex of the Mount Do site does not belong to the Paleolithic and particularly to its early stage. Given the presence of archaeological evidence of varying degrees of weathering, the Mount Do site should be considered a repeatedly visited workshop at the outcrops of raw materials, but only in the Holocene. The archaeological evidence analyzed in this article demonstrates incredible complexity of using the technical and typological method in research aimed at establishing the cultural and chronological context for archaeological complexes of Southeast Asia, and problems emerging from the conventional use of typological series.
Keywords
Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Mount Do, Early Paleolithic, surface complexes, handaxe, patination
Derevianko A.P.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1156-8331
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS
Kandyba A.V.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0985-9121
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS
Gladyshev S.A.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7443-654X
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS
Chekha A.M.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2427-7480
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS
Nguyen Gia Doi
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
Le Hai Dang
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
Karpova S.O.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0608-7536
M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University
References
Boriskovskii P.I. Pervobytnoe proshloe V’etnama. Moscow; Leningrad: Nauka, 1966, 184 p. (In Russ.).
Boriskovskii P.I. Drevnii kamennyi vek Yuzhnoi i Yugo-Vostochnoi Azii. Leningrad: Nauka, 1971, 173 p. (In Russ.).
Derevianko A.P. Three Global Human Migrations in Eurasia. Novosibirsk: IAET SB RAS Publ., 2018. Vol. III: The Acheulean and Bifacial Lithic Industries in Africa and Asia: The Levant, The Arabian Peninsula, Iran, India, Vietnam and the Islands of Southeastern Asia. 572 p. (In Russ.).
Derevianko A.P., Kandyba A.V., Nguyen Khac Su, Gladyshev S.A., Nguyen Gia Doi, Lebedev V.A., Chekha A.M., Rybalko A.G., Kharevich V.M., Tsybankov A.A. The Discovery of a Bifacial Industry in Vietnam. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, 2018, No. 3, pp. 3-21. DOI: 10.17746/1563-0102.2018.46.3.003-021. (In Russ.).
Ha Van Tan. Nui Do and some problems of paleolithic in Viet Nam. In Sites of primitive population in Viet Nam, Ha Noi, 1973, pp. 159-233.
Nguyen Khac Su. Nui Do-data and discussion. Archaeology, 1989, vol. 2, pp. 1-10.
Nguyen Khac Su. Early Paleolithic industry of An Khe and primitive period in Viet Nam. Vietnam Archeology, 2017, vol. 12, pp. 13-25.
Olsen J.W., Ciochon R.L. A review of evidence for postulated Middle Pleistocene occupations in Vietnam. Journal of Human Evolution, 1990, vol. 19, pp. 761-788.
Pham Dang Kinh, Luu Tran Tieu. Nhung Di Tich Cua Con Nguoi Thoi Toi Co Tren Dat Viet Nam [Ancient Ruins of Vietnamese People]. Hanoi: Xuai Ban, 1973, 263 p. (In Viet.).
Pham Dang Kinh, Luu Tran Tieu. The Lower Palaeolithic site of Nui Do. Vietnam Studies, 1976, vol. 46, pp. 50-106.
Pham Huy Thong. Our Stone Age: From the Mount Do Industry to the Hoa Binh Industry. Vietnam Studies, 1976, vol. 46, pp. 9-49.
Xie Guang-mao, Li Qiang, Huang Qi-shan. Baise jiushiqi [The Baise Paleolithic Industry]. Guangxi: Wenwu, 2003, 180 p. (In Chin.).
Список литературы
Борисковский П.И. Первобытное прошлое Вьетнама. - М.; Л.: Наука, 1966. - 184 с.
Борисковский П.И. Древний каменный век Южной и Юго-Восточной Азии. - Л.: Наука, 1971. - 173 с.
Деревянко А.П. Три глобальные миграции человека в Евразии. - Новосибирск: Изд-во ИАЭТ СО РАН, 2018. - Т. III: Ашельская и бифасиальная индустрия в Африке и Азии: Левант, Аравия, Иран, Индия, Вьетнам и островная часть Юго-Восточной Азии. - 572 с.
Деревянко А.П., Кандыба А.В., Нгуен Кхак Шу, Гладышев С.А., Нгуен За Дой, Лебедев В.А., Чеха А.М., Рыбалко А.Г., Харевич В.М., Цыбан-ков А.А. Открытие бифасиальной индустрии во Вьетнаме // Археология, этнография и антропология Евразии. -2018. - Т. 46, № 3. - С. 3-21.
Се Гуанмао, Ли Цян, Хуан Цишань. Палеолитическая индустрия Байсэ. - Гуанси: Вэньу, 2003. - 180 p. (на кит. яз.). - (Xie Guang-mao, Li Qiang, Huang Qi-shan. Baise jiushiqi).
Ha Van Tan. Nui Do and some problems of paleolithic in Viet Nam // Sites of primitive population in Viet Nam. -Ha Noi, 1973. - P. 159-233.
Nguyen Khac Su. Nui Do-data and discussion // Archaeol. - 1989. - Vol. 2. - P. 1-10.
Nguyen Khac Su. Early Paleolithic industry of An Khe and primitive period in Viet Nam // Vietnam Archeol. -2017. - Vol. 12. - P. 13-25.
Olsen J.W., Ciochon R.L. A review of evidence for postulated Middle Pleistocene occupations in Vietnam // J. of Hum. Evol. - 1990. - Vol. 19. - P. 761-788.
Pham Dang Kinh, Luu Tran Tieu. Ancient Ruins Of Vietnamese People. - Hanoi: Xuai Ban, 1973. - 283 p. (на вьет.). - (Nhung Di Tich Cua Con Nguoi Thoi Toi Co Tren Dat Viet Nam).
Pham Dang Kinh, Luu Tran Tieu. The Lower Palaeolithic site of Nui Do // Vietnam Studies. - 1976. -Vol. 46. - P. 50-106.
Pham Huy Thong. Our Stone Age: From the Mount Do Industry to the Hoa Binh Industry // Vietnam Studies. -1976. - Vol. 46. - P. 9-49.