rds: Thailand, Hoabinruan, Lithic, Technology.

Figure l: Location Map of the ,itc of Huai Hin.

met: Based on tne field work undertaken by the Thai-French Paleosurvey on the eastern bank of the. en river we describe the stone tools from the site of Huai Hin. The technülogicaL study of this material

idence to describe the Hoabinhian as a techno-funccional complex with iL recional particularicie:.

. \Veen Wildlife Sanctuarycary cover of northern1nailand. mainlyconsists of bill)' formations Er m north t) SOuthdut' 111 du: tt

t\\'Cen the Thaï-Shan plate and the Sino-Indoclliœse plate. The !irnestone tormati, ln' art' hiPh'ril:I'~'"

THE HOABINHIAN SITE OF HUAI HIN(NORTHERN THAILAND)

Valéry Zeitoun')'rR. 9993 du CNRS Musée Guimet 19 avenue d'Iéna 75116 Paris, France, zeitoun@udr1.cnrs.fr

Hubert ForestierUR 200 IRD 32 rue Varagnat, 93143 Bondy, France, hubert.Eorestier@boody.ird.fr.

Chinnawut Winayalai8,h Regional Office of Fine Arts Department.

Guang Mai National Museum, superhighway, Chiang . {ai, Tbailand

Christophe MaitayUMR 6566 du CNRS, Laboratoire Archéoscience, bât. 24-25, université Je Rennes l,

35042 Rennes cedex, France

oclllctionThli-French PaLaeosurvev is a field-d'l:lr indudes scientisrs from severa!,n:;. The team's goal was to surve

'.. of human settlemenr in northem. 1 from the prehistoric period.

the Huai Hin open-field'cal . ite whcrc 181 hoabinhian

,I! \Yere collecred in t\\iO locationsd al 2CXJ5b). ln this paper, we

I~ t the context of this c1iscoverythe techoological approadl used

c [oo1s and its intercst in a widerpeetive. Indeed, the industrialmined to belong to prehistoricin uth-East Asia: Al)'tJ1hil1tl,

~"IOIJlitm, SOllliim!, etc. have noÛ value and do not have a stmng.)j gical justification. Due to theirU1J fuzz)' terminologies these

en llisregardeJ \\~th rime.'. 1 industrv is the O1ÙY one ••r~~~~

lder consideration even· if itstigraphy is still unclear. Despite

'\ian dehnition developed by-mi basecl on stone-tools

Il 1 the caves of northern VietnamT and 1929) and the sevc.-r.al

nmeses and monographies. btthews 1964; Reynolds 1993;. th Hoabinhian still lacks a

. a litbic techno-complex. Fromt" \e\\~ this smdy provided us with

.mil'\' to propose an apprJisal of itsJi ehr'\ition.

with polygonal karsts (Dunk.ley 1995). Due [l,

physiography, there is good p< tmtial in no111ailand fi r preservationof archaeological rcSevera! Œ\ exist in the hills and low lirn~ uformed m i1.lntains (Siclisunthom l'f al 2l11'lis regi n ~~ divided by I1vcrs generally Ao\\-­from north tü south. These natural pass-\),,:!\.potential toads f llowed by people migrating Irthis arc:a during the Holocene. and probabh- .before, during cl) Pleistocene.

'\;' e undertook a Sllrvev in the S(I/dll

lf/l!di~/i: 5am/lialY near t'he bank of 1

Salawe n Ri er and around the vllL_of Pho 50 where Permian calcare\formations are reported on geologlmaps. The Ja/awrl!f1 TJ7i1d/ife .1'1111(1/1

is 30 kilometres west of ac Sari:lat the southcrn c.-trcmit)' uf the yalof the. Tarn Mac Yuan that flows inthe Salawe n River (fig. 1). Due tojunction of the two rivers this area fr rm­corridor that could have potcmially beengood place for human settlement. Dunout survc\' we discQve.rcd everal ca\conraininglong boat coffins (pa Pao arand an open-field site near the bank 1

the alaween River (Pha Daeng). Amoli_these discoveries rhe Huai Hin open-ficsite was the most informative for shecldiuIight on ASlan lithic techno-complexl::s.

PS sud n002

b)

J.;

/·f

1'igure 2: Lirhic matcriai frnm Pho So ,uea.

cl

TFU

Material from Pho 50

PS sud n009

al, b) Chopper and chopping toolc) Bifacial piece

The Pho 50 siteWe cartled out a first survey in the forest located in the Pho 50 neighbourhood, at the south-wester

ntrance of the village and collected five Jjthic pieces identified as choppers or chopping-tools (Fig. ~

Thcse were macle using a cbaÎllf opératoire following a simple shaping method on truck pebble. The sb:!'cIp; S present a fine retouch and some precise transformative techno-funcrional units erFl.) wruch ar

mosdy situated on the lateral, rather than the distal, edge of the too!. Dnring a sI' rem.atic survey of rhforesr around the bank of the river and on tOp of the hilIs we discovered the Huai Hin site near the Ph,So cave.

The Huai Hin siteThe Huai Hin archaeological site is an open-field site that was

c1iscovered near the Huai Hin ri er approximately three kilometresfrom Pho So. \, e made a methodical survey in this area anddiscovered several stone rools on the ground in two differentlocations. The:: first site was on a 200 metres high pJatform near therh'er:lt the mOllth of a brook (Locus Huai Hin 1). The othec sit . wa<,.H;'In elevation of 240 mettes, appro;ümately 200 metres to the westilncus Huai Hin 3). The archaeological material \Vas uncovered byspecIfic erosion of the soil caused by the current farming practices1 scd in the [egion. These inv Ive cycIe::s of vegetation burningwhich leave the soil bare during the rainy season. Following a splashCft:cp process onl)' fine deposits were carricd away with the rain\\'hilc the coarse material rcmained in position (Fig. 3). DcpenJingnn the $1, pe, this mechanism Ieads to rhe crecping movement ofrh m~ eri. 1more or Iess fa . Three test-pits were made to establishrh~ '[ratigraphy of th mitial position of the material \Vith the"flal or' btaining some informatinn allowing us to date the sites.The Ilthlc artefacts collected clearly indicate human activitl' in Figme 3: Position i unifacial stone wu]r!li- Irn. I:Jc\ cn lirhic pieces were collectecl on the soil at HH1 on rhe soil duc: tCl splash creep pro(es~..wd !~- piece- at HH . The HH2 s.ite on1)' provided informationcnnç 'minl(' redog nesi in the area.

ln the Hill teSt pir, 3U acicutiona1 pieces \Vere discovered. In the HH test-pit three lithic artefacts\l'ert: ·"und. ne mail .ldze lal' in the top of a layer that included ceramic sherds. Two other lithicpiecc_ \\' n. fCOWl 1 H dl<- botT )01 of the sequence. At this time, this lithic assemhlage i~ . ne of the11)' st Lump1<..· .. èn t 11;1\ e b en studied from a technological point of view in this rcgion of Asia.l t IS a [cfer nec.: SUl': 'lU \'hieh a qualitative stud)' of the tooL- made ou pehble may be uncle.rtakenin nier ra c\':tlu.lC th' uriabilit!" of the knapping methods used. bl' the Hoabinhiao.

•• EurA5EA-A 2006, Btlll '011 papI'/"

Techno type AHoll....."'A.....-t

_talOn

HH1 surf. .11°06

Axe of debit s petpendicular tath. mOfllhol<>gfG8l IIX' of Ihe pebble

EurA.[

a) unifacial faconnage on pebble

b) c) d) e) tools on half pebble

d) e)

~~HH1 surf. n'04

1ProductJ've Transforma'tionfrom one- sjnU'- pebble 102 hatt-pebbles A and Ai

milllmg otI' d Ihe' TFU PC

__ actJve part

ofthetool

~-- maklng off of the

edges ta produce - \a sharp transversaledge

_ pre-hensi mD",r'toQ arr qf!hl TFU PC

partofthetool~

RWIk:rlg off of U.. TFU TC toprG'I:VQ:::a 5harp transversal edQe

Techno type A1HeIf~Allllllg;)llYe!'.

o«.n Uvclc... Ih.ltl A.

A1A1

FAx. of d4!bÔU9" •A morpbologial ••• of the peI>ble

CoNNAGE

Huai Hin 1 surlacial

Fi~ure 4: Stone taoIs collcet LI at Huai Hin 1 lucalil\.

oEB1TAGE

"Chaîne opératoire" on pebble with two operational schemes:one debltage and one façonnage,

1nNe step W1d on~ lAId'Wlle:FOi ,tep. spi" by difICI pflfaJ.fion mth hard hammo'r l~ pt'OduQl rwo hatf~b6e wilh <:ortitel turf~Second .top: shoopWtg of the odg:tts by fil';Oll11ago on A.or A1,Thnd slel': llIktno orlransVfl'lll 'harp edge (lFU TC) byum_l or l:M1aft! remc>vals

HH1 surf. .11°05

c)

Fi!-,"urc 5: Explaneltion plaœ ot el new technnlogical cornHoabinhian

HH1 surf. .11°01

urface at Huai Hm

from the test-pit at Huai

?- the 10 li.thic pieces discovcred ini[ ar HH1 it appears that the cIassic.t!wn-: th r J-c,ùJed unifacialjà{onll~e~ (Fig. G) and the other type of

U(}II? n voïd pe ble (chopper)Il lhe open sin: ar absent. lnstead.

.il/oirl! on fiat pebble that leads tObl vas followed. The sumatralith

ngated pebble that is shaped on_ face. ·or a long rime it \Vas useddicator for the sites of the end of

ilccne and the beginning of thein continental South-East Asiabut ::uso in northern SlUllatra.

lloll Hin lithic pieces made 00 haIf-arts belonging to the techno­

\ vere made into a tool bv the. ~haping of thei.r IateraI' and.:dges (rransven;aI andlor lateral

c:dge). Ths chtlme rtpimtoin: \vasIl 'elati\,cly Aat and short pebblc1h s in basait ,md sandstone,

three pebbles have otgarivc:is difficult to interpret whemer

actually tools. TI1.cy ma. beet or tested pebbles.

,odicaI collection on top of thein 137 pieces among which

• di .... osed as uni.face or part of aiect. TIle raw material used isaIt, andesite, quartzite, shale and

_ whicl, are ail found in the beds.1I rivers.a kind of sClndardisation of the

. 'cd. haping and debitage methodhie was used (Fig. 7). Most of the

Iml) the classification AIAl (\\rith).

c Illillocalitytefaets from the surface at Huai

Jan 1:tries of tools found at Hl

Je li pieces made from basait,iric rock and sandstone (Fig. 4).[he exception of a few flake and01 Aake (N=4) and one half-di.sk

t me, the tools arc I-loabinhian'. Tbey \Vere unifaciaUy made on

.... bbles but a detailed examinationhtlrÎlr opératoire suggests that these

.- ent From pre\'iously describednhian cbbles found in Thailand1now: which \Vere« surnatralith »ln longor thick pebbles to produceucb a' choppers or chopping­

or suer 2000 ; Moser 2001).: porr-tools wc found, however,1;lP-type notee! « f\ 1 » produceJ

Ùlt opiratoire that included t\vo1< ebitage (dfbtla,oe) and shaping

-ig. 5).

->

-1 cm

h)~~

~r

./, .. ' .',

,. .

~.'..... HHHlsandnOlO

~

b)

e)

~~

Huai Hin 1 test-pit

d)

.~/.'~

C7\HHl sond n007 HHl sand n022 HHl sond n017

a) b) h) i) tools with sharp transversal edges d) circular denticulatec) scraper e) f) g) half-pebble

g)

:r: C mareria!cn1~ incJutled necks, break off points of sloping and rims with a rmmded Iip,50me of mem showing traces

" mt: a pecls (surface colours) of the p . tsherds show evidence of firing by oxidising or by redueingn.:sen-ation of this ceramic materia! is heterogeneous. The walls are onen altered and rougheneel, inn It pO'siblt: ID determine wbich treatments were useel during their production. 'erall me marerial

~~'TllenlCln an,l lime information can be gained fr m this rrulterial. The cerarnic vessels were probably,:Il l, b\' coiJing and a cord-wrappeJ beater was Llseel t fil' h than off TIlt: da) used contained.'..! ut rough temper (quartz, feldspars, muscovite and others).The lack of a well·established

œl1lmic in Sollm-East Asia prevented precise categorisation of this data set 111e startingrh ,dl' of rhese rypes of ceramics have been described from oliduc t Recent periods.

Fi 'Ure 6: Lithic artefacrs from Huai Hin 1 test-pit.

'Th strong representativeness of elernen belanging ta d1eA/A1 techno-type, with i\.1 dle mast carrunan type,rrutd . ir iole to analyse in detail the .rthe/llflf opératoires used and the rechno-funetiooal mcaning f the u"lU1sformativeprocesses w cl ta converr these pebbles inta tools. The homageneity of this material, colleeted on the grouncl, iuncxpeered. The artefàets on half-pebble are stanchrdisecl and dangated foUDwing a ,hairte 11J'ératoùl' inclucling debitage.>111.1 a haping mèthods whicll became quit(: c1ear after their anaIysi They h.'t. an original l;\binbian cl'k'mleter. Theri.tnction:al cI1araeteristics of the lithic pieces crnet'sed tollO\\~ng an anaIysis of th cliacritic scheme for a large nllrnberor" pic:cc:s arnong the collt'Ction which aUowed us to individualise the active sharp erlge and cl1 rransfonnative techno­funct:ional u1its. Most of the rime rnere is asingle techno-li.mction..ll unit at me tran versaI part of me cutting edge of dle[ nt: perpenclicular to the morphol gica! a."<is of,th. half-pebble.

The materiaI frOID Huai . 30.c::l.l a grOUp ()f grey-bIlle limestone blocks at the top of me hill we established a test-pit ta try ta obtain

:0 mL .information concerning me stratigraphy and depositional history of me artetàcts. The test-pit followed auc:nc" mat has becn dated by charco,ù.• 1 the top of me test-pit, a little adze made of limestone was follO\ved

..1 Il'' r \DÙ' ceramie sherds inclucling charcoal \Vith a dating of 3700 ± 30 yeats BP (poz-lO063). At the1 >n),)l th sequence two stone artefacts were collected: ne is a pebblc ancl the other one is a typica! uniface

um.1lralich) (fig. 8).

.,

HH3 Est 11

..

~HH3Est18

----------(\

A

b)

HH3 W 33

e)

&j... '.' .H.H.3W39/ -- .'

- . /

1 cm

EurA5EAA 201lti. f!tV..i,'" .....,- ...,-

f'igurc 8: Lithic artefacts From IIuai Hin 3 te.st-pit.

Figure 7: Stone toub From Huai Hio 3 iocalirv.

HH3W35

HH3 sand nOOl

a) adzeb) uniface

A

1 cm

Ô HH3Est16

a) b) c) d) e) f) 9. h) i}~) k) 1) m) unifacial half pebble

a)

Huai Hin 3 test-pit

HH3W31

HH3Est~

Huai Hin 3

ConclusionOur survey ln northel'"

Thailand 1 cl ta the disco'"of new prehistOric ~itèS whieconuibute to th existing richntof Hoabinhian site: mappedthis area, the oldcst of hich i",Tham Lot and is mor rhan 30 01years okl (Sdl0ocondej 2006).0.

L_--!.:== ..__-.lI~ =~ Ll di O\'cries "f tools and actefa .

in caves and open-field Sil

complete the clatq knO\.vn on Sfèll

)ls from the Final Paleolitlln : luth-East sm, and 0 en rhe way for a discussion on the tcchnolocal identity of the Hoabinhian. 01IIl1Jm,'TS, tt)JJowirw the :'ll1alysis of the stone taol series found at ua! Hin, question the variability of the methou~eJ among dlt Hoabinhian techno-complex. ere dK Hoabinhian rcaliy an isolated ClJrure that only m,1Uni [-:\Ces, n pebble?

)ur r SLJts gest tbat dlé siruati n is more complicated than previollsly d10ught (Colani 1930; Sarasin 1t)

!l'Ire d (il 19 1; Higham Y'jng:illl 1982). The Hoabinhian wols described here show an increased diversiC\' 3.. ,u:i;1biliry an appear ta have been made following three distinct cha/nes opératoireJ llSing a hard hanll1ler.

- .1 dJa1Î11/ opéraJoire made of c1a.ssie Lmifacial jfl(Otll1r.l,f"t 0 lona pebbles leads tO a sumattaJith,- 1 '-luite short d)aÎnc opératoiT/' offaçom"{gé' on thick 0 oïd P bblts leads to t ols like choppers or choppin.

[1101'•

- 1 nove! cba/l1~ opéraJoire tha mixes dl.Lnj.(/ge leading to half-pebbles (1< Jpiil» Ail) dlat are dJcn transformUlto :1 mol byjàçotlllaf!!. Scrapers wid1 bifacial retoLlch or pieces \vith transversal sharp edges on pebble are ()fttpresem.

These thl'ee cba1ÎleJ opéraloi,.w· are important for understanding the differenr medlods of knapping h abinhi.pebbles. ThtSe med10ds existed ill northern Thailand, as c..'Ul also be seen in e C1bluang rock-shelter dl[wenC\' ~'ea.rs ago (Sanroni et al 1(86). ln this s lies the three chalÎlI!s opératoires are also present. Indeed t ols \\~th

l'Lln. c:r:al. harp edge n pebble (AI Al), unifaces (sumatrélJiths) and cboppers are pr' em rogether.\'\,hat • 15 the dlQSen ciJa/ne opémlQire, all dle Jithic pieces are technicaU pcrfect and the goal of me knapl"

\\ I~ rcachee!. Wc deveJ peJ new technological methods to read the dynam.ics and functional biography of dlho'lbinhi'\.D tools, dlt ncxt stcp is to condllet a reappraisal of the whnle lithic series f South-East l\sia irlcludlOmat tT 111 the Sumattan coast (Furestier et aL 2005).

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