scholarly journals Re-evaluating Pleistocene–Holocene occupation of cave sites in north-west Thailand: new radiocarbon and luminescence dating

Antiquity ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Cyler Conrad ◽  
Rasmi Shoocongdej ◽  
Ben Marwick ◽  
Joyce C. White ◽  
Cholawit Thongcharoenchaikit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
Socioeconomic Change ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
North West ◽  
Highland Region ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

Established chronologies indicate a long-term ‘Hoabinhian’ hunter-gatherer occupation of Mainland Southeast Asia during the Terminal Pleistocene to Mid-Holocene (45 000–3000 years ago). Here, the authors re-examine the ‘Hoabinhian’ sequence from north-west Thailand using new radiocarbon and luminescence data from Spirit Cave, Steep Cliff Cave and Banyan Valley Cave. The results indicate that hunter-gatherers exploited this ecologically diverse region throughout the Terminal Pleistocene and the Pleistocene–Holocene transition, and into the period during which agricultural lifeways emerged in the Holocene. Hunter-gatherers did not abandon this highland region of Thailand during periods of environmental and socioeconomic change.

scholarly journals Late Pleistocene human paleoecology in the highland savanna ecosystem of mainland Southeast Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kantapon Suraprasit ◽  
Rasmi Shoocongdej ◽  
Kanoknart Chintakanon ◽  
Hervé Bocherens
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Tooth Enamel ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Lower Latitude ◽  
Stable Carbon ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Carbon And Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Northwestern Thailand ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

AbstractThe late Pleistocene settlement of highland settings in mainland Southeast Asia by Homo sapiens has challenged our species’s ability to occupy mountainous landscapes that acted as physical barriers to the expansion into lower-latitude Sunda islands during sea-level lowstands. Tham Lod Rockshelter in highland Pang Mapha (northwestern Thailand), dated between 34,000 and 12,000 years ago, has yielded evidence of Hoabinhian lithic assemblages and natural resource use by hunter-gatherer societies. To understand the process of early settlements of highland areas, we measured stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of Tham Lod human and faunal tooth enamel. Our assessment of the stable carbon isotope results suggests long-term opportunistic behavior among hunter-gatherers in foraging on a variety of food items in a mosaic environment and/or inhabiting an open forest edge during the terminal Pleistocene. This study reinforces the higher-latitude and -altitude extension of a forest-grassland mosaic ecosystem or savanna corridor (farther north into northwestern Thailand), which facilitated the dispersal of hunter-gatherers across mountainous areas and possibly allowed for consistency in a human subsistence strategy and Hoabinhian technology in the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia over a 20,000-year span near the end of the Pleistocene.

scholarly journals On the spatial and temporal variability of ENSO precipitation and drought teleconnection in mainland Southeast Asia

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 5307-5343 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Räsänen ◽  
V. Lindgren ◽  
J. H. A. Guillaume ◽  
B. M. Buckley ◽  
M. Kummu
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Drought Severity ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Seasonal Evolution ◽  
Enso Events ◽  
Precipitation Anomalies ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

Abstract. The variability in the hydroclimate over mainland Southeast Asia is strongly influenced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, which has been linked to severe drought and floods that profoundly influence human societies and ecosystems alike. However, the spatial characteristics and long-term stationarity of ENSO's influence in the region are not well understood. We thus aim to analyse seasonal evolution and spatial variations in the effect of ENSO on precipitation over the period of 1980–2013, and long-term variation in the ENSO-teleconnection using tree-ring derived Palmer Drought Severity Indices (PDSI) that span from 1650–2004. We found that the majority of the study area is under the influence of ENSO, which has affected the region's hydroclimate over the majority (96 %) of the 355 year study period. Our results further indicate that there is a pattern of seasonal evolution of precipitation anomalies during ENSO. However, considerable variability in the ENSO's influence is revealed: the strength of ENSO's influence was found to vary in time and space, and the different ENSO events resulted in varying precipitation anomalies. Additional research is needed to investigate how this variation in ENSO teleconnection is influenced by other factors, such as the properties of the ENSO events and other ocean and atmospheric phenomena. In general, the high variability we found in ENSO teleconnection combined with limitations of current knowledge, suggests that the adaptation to extremes in hydroclimate in mainland Southeast Asia needs to go beyond "predict-and-control" and recognise both uncertainty and complexity as fundamental principles.

Typological bottlenecks: How large-scale regional language typologies help us interpret global prehistory

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Blench
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Human Culture ◽  
Regional Language ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

AbstractIt is unlikely that local or highly specific typological characteristics of language correlate with other aspects of human culture and history. However, at regional scale, the broad typology of languages does reflect bottlenecks. The paper argues that these regions of high typological similarity are due neither to chance nor long-term convergence, but reflect the initial conditions of settlement. This suggests that regions can be characterised by negative typology, i.e., the absence of globally common traits. Conversely, typological uniformity occurs in mainland Southeast Asia, a region notable for the similarities between language structures. An expansion of the remit of typology can uncover large regional patterns which can be tied to the archaeological narrative of the early expansion of modern humans.

scholarly journals Depositional conditions on an alluvial fan at the turn of the Weichselian to the Holocene – a case study in the Żmigród Basin, southwest Poland

Geologos ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Zieliński ◽  
Robert J. Sokołowski ◽  
Stanisław Fedorowicz ◽  
Barbara Woronko ◽  
Beata Hołub ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
Braided River ◽  
Gis Analysis ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Sedimentary Succession ◽  
Late Weichselian ◽  
Stratigraphic Succession

Abstract Presented are the results of research into the fluvio-aeolian sedimentary succession at the site of Postolin in the Żmigród Basin, southwest Poland. Based on lithofacies analysis, textural analysis, Thermoluminescence and Infrared-Optical Stimulated Luminescence dating and GIS analysis, three lithofacies units were recognised and their stratigraphic succession identified: 1) the lower unit was deposited during the Pleni-Weichselian within a sand-bed braided river functioning under permafrost conditions within the central part of the alluvial fan; 2) the middle unit is the result of aeolian deposition and fluvial redeposition on the surface of the fan during long-term permafrost and progressive decrease of humidity of the climate at the turn of the Pleni- to the Late Weichselian; 3) the upper unit accumulated following the development of longitudinal dunes at the turn of the Late Weichselian to the Holocene; the development of dunes was interrupted twice by the form being stabilised by vegetation and soil development.

scholarly journals Ancient Genomics Reveals Four Prehistoric Migration Waves into Southeast Asia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugh McColl ◽  
Fernando Racimo ◽  
Lasse Vinner ◽  
Fabrice Demeter ◽  
J. Víctor Moreno Mayar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Distinct Population ◽  
Layer Model ◽  
Human Diversity ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
Island Southeast Asia ◽  
Two Layer Model

AbstractTwo distinct population models have been put forward to explain present-day human diversity in Southeast Asia. The first model proposes long-term continuity (Regional Continuity model) while the other suggests two waves of dispersal (Two Layer model). Here, we use whole-genome capture in combination with shotgun sequencing to generate 25 ancient human genome sequences from mainland and island Southeast Asia, and directly test the two competing hypotheses. We find that early genomes from Hoabinhian hunter-gatherer contexts in Laos and Malaysia have genetic affinities with the Onge hunter-gatherers from the Andaman Islands, while Southeast Asian Neolithic farmers have a distinct East Asian genomic ancestry related to present-day Austroasiatic-speaking populations. We also identify two further migratory events, consistent with the expansion of speakers of Austronesian languages into Island Southeast Asia ca. 4 kya, and the expansion by East Asians into northern Vietnam ca. 2 kya. These findings support the Two Layer model for the early peopling of Southeast Asia and highlight the complexities of dispersal patterns from East Asia.

scholarly journals On the spatial and temporal variability of ENSO precipitation and drought teleconnection in mainland Southeast Asia

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1889-1905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo A. Räsänen ◽  
Ville Lindgren ◽  
Joseph H. A. Guillaume ◽  
Brendan M. Buckley ◽  
Matti Kummu
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Drought Severity ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
Seasonal Evolution ◽  
Enso Events ◽  
Term Variation ◽  
Precipitation Anomalies ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

Abstract. The variability of the hydroclimate over mainland Southeast Asia is strongly influenced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which has been linked to severe droughts and floods that profoundly influence human societies and ecosystems alike. Although the significance of ENSO is well understood, there are still limitations in the understanding of its effects on hydroclimate, particularly with regard to understanding the spatio-temporal characteristics and the long-term variation of its effects. Therefore we analysed the seasonal evolution and spatial variations in the effect of ENSO on precipitation over the period of 1980–2013 and the long-term variation in the ENSO teleconnection using tree-ring-derived Palmer drought severity indices (PDSIs) for the March–May season that span over the time period 1650–2004. The analyses provided an improved understanding of the seasonal evolution of the precipitation anomalies during ENSO events. The effects of ENSO were found to be most consistent and expressed over the largest areal extents during March–May of the year when the ENSO events decay. On a longer timescale, we found that ENSO has affected the region's March–May hydroclimate over the majority (95 %) of the 355-year study period and that during half (52 %) of the time ENSO caused a significant increase in hydroclimatic variability. The majority of the extremely wet and dry March–May seasons also occurred during ENSO events. However, considerable variability in ENSO's influence was revealed: the spatial pattern of precipitation anomalies varied between individual ENSO events, and the strength of ENSO's influence was found to vary through time. Given the high variability in ENSO teleconnection that we described and the limitations of the current understanding of the effects of ENSO, we suggest that the adaptation to ENSO-related extremes in hydroclimate over mainland Southeast Asia needs to recognise uncertainty as an inherent part of adaptation, must go beyond "predict and control", and should seek adaptation opportunities widely within society.

Land Use, Political Complexity, and Urbanism in Mainland Southeast Asia

2008 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Kealhofer ◽  
Peter Grave
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Political Complexity ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Central Thailand ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

Debates about the development of political complexity and cities are typically focused on material cultural correlates and situated within the wider context of the emergence of states. Conventionally, state emergence is linked to agricultural surpluses and a new phase of agricultural intensification. However, this approach remains fundamentally reliant on the preservation of an appropriate and diverse suite of material cultural correlates. For mainland Southeast Asia, archaeological correlates of early political complexity are comparatively impoverished and are dominated by evidence from disparate burial contexts and architecture. In this paper, we employ an alternative approach based on a case study from north central Thailand that uses paleoenvironmental evidence of land use. These data are then related to historical urban development in the region. We suggest that large-scale patterns of agricultural expansion relate directly to increases in political complexity. Our results demonstrate that the long-term development of large-scale agricultural landscapes in this region predates the earliest evidence of monumental cities in central Thailand. We conclude that significant progress in better understanding the emergence of complex societies, both in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, is unlikely to be possible without more systematic integration of archaeological and paleoenvironmental approaches.

scholarly journals Drivers of past and predicted changes of rainfall in and around Mainland Southeast Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Skliris ◽  
Robert Marsh ◽  
Ivan D. Haigh ◽  
Melissa Wood ◽  
Joel Hirschi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Rain Gauge ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
Precipitation Trend ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
Increasing Precipitation ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

Abstract Observational rain gauge/satellite and reanalysis datasets since the 1950s are evaluated for trends in mean and extreme rainfall over Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). Rain gauge data indicate strong increases exceeding 50% in both annual mean precipitation and various extreme precipitation indices over Vietnam and the northwestern part of the peninsula since 1979. A high degree of uncertainty is evident between reanalysis products in capturing long-term trends in continental precipitation. Evaporation increases over adjacent seas - the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the South China Sea in particular- may partially explain increasing precipitation in large parts of MSEA over the last 40 years. The remote influence of ENSO may also partially explain the recent precipitation trend towards a more intense regional hydrological cycle, in response to predominant La Niña states over recent decades. Increasing precipitation in MSEA is also associated with increased monsoon intensity in southeast Asia and a northward shift of the monsoon activity centre towards MSEA over 1979–2018. Long-term amplification of the regional hydrological cycle is further investigated, through analysis of CMIP5 coupled climate models in historical and RCP4.5/8.5 21st century scenario simulations. The CMIP5 ensemble mean shows robust wide-spread trends in wet season precipitation over the MSEA in both RCP scenarios linked with strong increases in evaporation in all major oceanic moisture sources. Results clearly demonstrate an intensification of the regional water cycle with increasing frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events.

scholarly journals First Farmers in Mainland Southeast Asia

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Franklin Higham
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Coast Of Vietnam ◽  
River Valleys ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

<p>The domestication of rice and millet took in the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys. It is argued that the expansion of farming communities from these two regions reached mainland Southeast Asia from the late third millennium BC. The conjunction of new archaeological and bioanthropogical information, and the re-examination of older reports, is beginning to illuminate the interactions between the incoming farmers and long-established hunter gatherers. It is argued that there were several distinct expansionary routes. One followed the coast of Vietnam, others involved the courses of the Salween and Mekong rivers.</p><p>This brought incoming farmers to a wide range of new habitats. Khok Phanom Di is a key site. Formerly located on the estuary of the Bang Pakong River, a new analysis of cranial and dental variables relate the inhabitants to expansionary farmers. Their adaptation to a marine estuarine habitat, however, made rice cultivation marginal at best, and the new settlers turned to hunting and gathering while maintaining a fully Neolithic material culture. </p>

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