Stone Industries of Mainland and Island Southeast Asia

Abstract

Abstract Archaeological sites with concentrations of flaked stone dating to the last 5 years, associated with anatomically modern Homo sapiens, have been recorded widely across Southeast Asia. Two main types of industries have been documented: those based on knapping the raw stone to produce distinct cores, used for detaching flakes; and those based on flaking the surface of cobbles. Quality of locally available stone underpinned the distinction between the core-based industries, which used fine materials such as chert and obsidian, and the coarser-grained cobble-based industries. This explains the dominance of core-based industries in Island Southeast Asia and cobble-based industries in Mainland Southeast Asia, and the exceptions such as cobble-based industries in northern Sumatra, Niah Caves (Sarawak), and the North Moluccas. Across Southeast Asia, with certain notable exceptions, stone was rarely used for manufacturing distinctive implement types but instead involved the production of impromptu tools for working animal and vegetable material.