Forager mobility organization in seasonal tropical environments of western Thailand

Abstract

This paper investigates forager mobility organization in seasonal tropical environments and, speci cally, how mobility strategies have affected subsistence and settlement organization. The proposed model, based on cross-cultural comparisons, suggests that two mobility organizational systems exist in seasonal tropical environments: residential mobility in the wet season and logistical mobility as an organizational response to the dry season. The model is evaluated against archaeological data from Lang Kamnan, a Late and post-Pleistocene cave site in western Thailand. Results of the analyses of archaeological and environmental data indicate Lang Kamnan was occupied sporadically from the Late Pleistocene to Holocene, and that residential mobility was employed by small groups of foragers using a generalized subsistence technology during the wet season. The site currently lacks evidence of dry season occupation, and thus it is not yet possible to argue for the use of a logistical mobility strategy in the dry season. The proposed mobility model provides an important approach for examining variability in Late and post-Pleistocene cultural systems in tropical environments, particularly in Southeast Asia where such variability continues to be viewed as the consequence of sequential occupation by different 'cultures' such as 'Hoabinhian'.

Palaeoecology and Forager Subsistence Strategies during the Pleistocene – Holocene Transition: A Reinvestigation of the Zooarchaeological Assemblage from Spirit Cave, Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand

“…in general, lower levels of site occupation, and thus increased mobility during the Pleistocene -holocene transition, match regional trends of variability and complexity in hunter-gatherer activities during this period in mainland and maritime southeast asia (marwick 2013;rabett 2012;rabett and Barker 2010;shoocongdej 2000, 2010white 2011).…”

“…Finally, although the botanical remains were not domesticated types, he argued that they provided the earliest evidence of plant exploitation and possible cultivation in mainland southeast asia (gorman 1971b : 27 -28; yen 1977). his conclusions shaped ideas concerning the nature of prehistoric foraging adaptations throughout mainland southeast asia (Flannery 1973 : 284 -287;glover 1977;higham 1972;Pookajorn 1988;reynolds 1990;shoocongdej 2000;solheim 1972;yen 1977). while spirit Cave remains an important site in the prehistoric record of southeast asia, the lack of a statistical analysis of the zooarchaeological assemblage hampers the accurateness of our understanding of the true nature of hunter-gatherer subsistence adaptations during the Pleistocene -holocene transition and thereafter.…”

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

“…Colani, 1929aColani, , 1929bSaurin, 1951;Heekeren, 1961;Mattews, 1966;Boriskovsky, 1969;Hayden, 1977;Schoocongdej, 1996;Hoang, 1989;Pookajorn, 1990;Bellwood 1997;Forestier 2005;Yi et al, 2008, Marwick, 2008, Forestier et al, 2010. Different meanings were given to Hoabinhian such as a culture, an industry, a chronological sequence, a tradition or a techno-complex since its first characterisation at the Préhistoric Congress of Far East in 1932 (Moser, 2001(Moser, , 2012.…”

Reinterpretation of an archaeological pebble culture from the Middle Mekong River valley, Cambodia

“…As for Middle Pleistocene human remains, the mainland has yielded only a few isolated teeth from sites in Vietnam (Kha, 1976;Cuong, 1985;Ciochon & Olsen, 1986Olsen & Ciochon, 1990;Ciochon et al, 1996) and Thailand (Tougard et al, 1998). More is known regarding the Upper Paleolithic, as Late Pleistocene to Holocene lithic technology in mainland Southeast Asia is better documented, with several industries from numerous localities (Mansuy, 1924;Mansuy & Colani, 1925;Colani, 1930;Patte, 1932Patte, , 1936Fromaget, 1936Fromaget, , 1940Saurin, 1966;Gorman, 1972;Santoni, Pautreau, & Prishanchit, 1990;Pookajorn, 1991;Demeter, 2000Demeter, , 2006Forestier, 1998Forestier, , 2000Forestier, , 2005Pautreau & Mornais, 1998;Pautreau, 2007;Ha, 1997Ha, , 2001Higham, 2002;Shoocongdej, 1996Shoocongdej, , 2004 and with human remains sporadically represented in Vietnam (Kha, 1976;Cuong, 1985;Ciochon & Olsen, 1986Olsen & Ciochon, 1990;Ciochon et al, 1996;Demeter et al, 2004Demeter et al, , 2005, Thailand, and Laos (Fromaget, 1936(Fromaget, , 1940Arambourg & Fromaget, 1938).…”