Final Pleistocene-Early Holocene (∼40–8 ka) Lithic Industries in Southern China and Their Implications for Understanding the Prehistory of Mainland Southeast Asia

Abstract

ABSTRACT The cultural relationship between southern China and mainland Southeast Asia during the final Pleistocene-early Holocene is a major concern in prehistoric studies among scholars in both regions. During this period, the lithic assemblages are known to be predominantly cobble-based industries, grouped under the term “chopper-chopping tools tradition”. The analytical simplification of different assemblages may make typological sense, and this could explain why local technical expressions are not well documented; while the Hoabinhian technocomplex is a good example of cobble diversity and technological variability. To provide information on the various techno-cultural expressions on cobbles in southern China, this paper presents the results of four representative cobble assemblages from southern China studied from the chaîne opératoire perspective, and the inter-site comparison allowed us to identify their similarities and differences qualitatively and quantitatively. Finally, we discussed the strategic importance of southern China in the interpretation of techno-cultural phenomena in mainland Southeast Asia.