Emergence and diversification of the neolithic in southern Vietnam: insights from coastal Rach Nui
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
We examine the southern Vietnamese site of Rach Nui, dated to between 3390 and 3850 cal BP, in the context of three major aspects of the Neolithic in Mainland Southeast Asia: mound formation and chronology, construction techniques, and subsistence economy. Results indicate that this ca. 75 m in diameter, 5 m high mound, comprising over a dozen phases of earthen platforms, upon which were raised sophisticated wooden structures, was built in <200 years. While consuming domesticated millet, rice, and occasionally dogs and pigs, the main subsistence orientation included managed tubers and fruits and a range of mangrove ecosystem taxa: catfishes, turtles, crocodiles, monitor lizards, macaques and langurs, to name a few. This combined vegeculture-foraging lifeway in a mangrove forested environment, likely in the context of a tradable goods extractive industry, adds to a growing picture of significant diversity, and sophisticated construction skills in the Southeast Asian Neolithic.
Journal
Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology
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Volume
10
ISBN/ISSN
1556-1828
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Issue
3
Pages Count
30
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
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EISSN
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DOI
10.1080/15564894.2014.980473