Evolution of the Hoabinhian Techno-Complex of Tam Hang Rock Shelter in Northeastern Laos

Incisor ablation among the late upper paleolithic people of Tam Hang (Northern Laos): Social identity, mortuary practice, and oral health

“…Although as many as 17 individuals were initially discovered during excavations, some of the fossils were subsequently lost. The human fossil sample comes from two of the three areas of the 100 meter rockshelter excavated by Fromaget (for detailed archaeological context see: Demeter et al, ; Shackelford and Demeter, ; Patole‐Edoumba et al, ). No human remains are known from Tam Hang Central, whereas one specimen from Tam Hang North (THN) and 11 specimens from Tam Hang South (THS) are considered here.…”

“…Furthermore, studies of Late Pleistocene skeletal material that directly address social identity through human paleobiology are infrequent and focus primarily on mortuary analysis or personal ornamentation and adornment (e.g., Zilhão and Trinkaus, ; Trinkaus and Svoboda, ; Vanhaeren and d'Errico, ; Formicola, ; Holt and Formicola, ; Riel‐Salvatore and Gravel‐Miguel, ; Trinkaus et al, ). Here, we suggest that bridging research traditions on Late Pleistocene paleobiology and mortuary analysis with bioarchaeological research on social identity provides important data on both paleobiology and social identities, and we illustrate this approach using a case study on ablation practices at Tam Hang—a well‐studied, Late Upper Paleolithic rockshelter in Hua Pan Province, northern Laos (Demeter, ; Demeter et al, ; Shackelford, ; Shackelford and Demeter, ; Patole‐Edoumba et al, ). This study will: (1) Provide thorough documentation of dental ablation at Tam Hang to understand the broader geographic and temporal range of this practice in Mainland Southeast Asia; (2) examine the interrelationships between several variables related to social identity (i.e., patterns of dental ablation, age, and sex) and how they influence an individual's inclusion in the mortuary setting at Tam Hang; and (3) explore the biocultural ramifications of dental ablation on anterior oral health by addressing the co‐variation between oral health and dental ablation.…”

Hoabinhian variability in Mainland Southeast Asia revisited: The lithic assemblage of Moh Khiew Cave, Southwestern Thailand

“…Some of them are well known to researchers, such as Lang Kamnan (Shoocongdej 2000), Ban Kao (Pookajorn 1984), Sai Yok (Heekeren and Knuth 1967), Don Noi (Bronson and Natapintu 1988) and Ongbah (Sørensen 1988) in Western Thailand; Spirit Cave (Gorman 1970), Banyan Valley (Reynolds 1992), Tham Phaa Chan (Bannanurag 1988;White and Gorman 2004), Obluang (Santoni et al 1986), Huai Hin (Forestier et al 2013) and Tham Lod (Chitkament et al 2016;Shoocongdej 2006), Ban Tha Si (Zeitoun et al 2013) and Doi Pha Kan (Celiberti et al 2018) in Northern Thailand; Laang Spean (Forestier et al 2015;Mourer and Mourer 1970;Sophady et al 2016) in Cambodia; Houay Pano (Zeitoun et al 2019b) andTam Hang (Patole-Edoumba et al 2015) in North Laos; Nguom (Ha 1995b), Son Vi (Nguyen 1994a), Hang Cho (Yi et al 2008) and Xom Trai (Nguyen 1994c) in Northern Vietnam. However, at the moment, it is impossible to compare all these sites with the technological approach, since only several sites have been studied using a chaîne opératoire method, including Laang Spean (Forestier et al 2015(Forestier et al , 2017, Huai Hin (Forestier et al 2013), Tham Lod (Chitkament et al 2016), Doi Pha Kan (Celiberti et al 2018), Houay Pano (Zeitoun et al 2019b) and Tam Hang (Patole-Edoumba et al 2015), revealing different degrees of typotechnological information. Overall, three major chaînes opératoires on cobbles are well represented at Laang Spean (Forestier et al 2015(Forestier...…”