Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51 (3) 2023   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.130-139

Annotation:  A.P. Derevianko’s Multivolume Three Global Human Migrations in Eurasia and Its Place in Paleolithic Core-Shaped Tools from the Early Pleistocene Deposits at Bairaki, Moldova Early-Middle Acheulean Occupation of the Northern Transcaucasian Highland Nikolaevo-Otradnoye II—A New Early and Middle Paleolithic Site in the Northeastern Azov Region On the Attribution of Lithic Industry from the Early Paleolithic Site of Bogatyri/Sinyaya Balka, the Gazma Cave—A Final Middle Paleolithic Site in Azerbaijan: Paleogeography, Chronology, Archaeology Variability in the Sibiryachikha Assemblages of the Altai Mountains (Based on Materials from Okladni Spatial Structures of the Initial/Early Upper Paleolithic at Tolbor-21, Northern Mongolia A Complex of Stratifi ed Upper Paleolithic Sites in the Foothills of the Northern Tien Shan: General Late Pleistocene Environments of East Kazakhstan (Based on Ushbulak Site Materials) A New Type of IUP Settlement in the Selenga River Basin, Northern Mongolia: The Kharganyn Gol-13 Sho Morpho-Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Radiocarbon Chronology of Suyanggae Sites, Focusing on Loc. Khengerekte-Sukhotino—An Upper Paleolithic Culture in Transbaikalia Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene Paleoclimatic Boundaries and Human Settlement of the East Siberia Late Upper Paleolithic of the South Minusinsk Basin and its Mountain Surroundings: Research Results Ɖiem Cave: A Stratified Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Site in Northern Vietnam A Case of Systemic Connective Tissue Disorder in a Pazyryk Male from the Altai Mountains   

Ɖiem Cave:
A Stratified Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Site
in Northern Vietnam

A.V. Kandyba¹, Nguyen Khac Su², A.M. Chekha¹, Nguyen Gia Doi², Le Hai Dang², Nguyen Anh Tuan², and A.P. Derevianko¹

¹Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

²Institute of Archaeology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Phan Chu Trinh 61, Hanoi, Vietnam

This study presents the findings of excavations at Diem Cave, a Late Paleolithic site in Vietnam. Several lithological units and cultural layers are identified. Archaeological materials, including stone and bone artifacts, are described in detail. Findings from the three lower layers include sumatraliths, axes, bone tools, and ornaments. All of these, as well as features of the funerary rite, are typical of the Hoabinhian period. Human bones in the earliest burial were found in anatomical order, whereas those in other burials were crushed and charred. The authors demonstrate that the three lower layers date to the Pleistocene and belong to the Hoabinhian stage, whereas the upper layer dates to the Holocene and belongs to the Da But culture. Micromorphological and stratigraphic observations suggest that the sedimentation of two of the Hoabinhian layers occurred under a humid climate, whereas one Hoabinhian layer attests to a more arid environment. Judging by the absolute dates, the Hoabinhian period appeared in Northern Vietnam before 23 ka BP. During certain stages of the Pleistocene, human populations in the region were rather numerous.

Keywords: North Vietnam, Diem Cave, Hoabinhian lithic industry, sumatraliths, human burials, paleoecology