The Discovery of a Bifacial Industry in Vietnam

Tektite geoarchaeology in mainland Southeast Asia

“…Our brief report on five sites in Vietnam, combined with our literature review of previous finds, indicates that tektites are often found in secondary contexts that are substantially younger than the impact event at c. 800 ka that formed the tektites in this region. This raises questions about the claims made by Derevianko et al (2018) suggesting that they have recovered bifacial tools dating to around 800 ka BP at a site near An Khê, Vietnam. From this they infer the origin of bifacial lithic technologies and the Lower Paleolithic in Southeast Asia.…”

“…One of the difficulties in interpreting the Bose tektites is the paucity of similar tektite finds reported from China. To aid in interpreting the tektites reported by Derevianko et al (2018) from the An Khe deposits of central Vietnam, in this section we describe the results of recent fieldwork at five sites in Vietnam where tektites have been found. Importantly, these sites show tektites associated with well-secured stratigraphic sequences that have a variety of different chronologies.…”

“…However, to ensure these markers give reliable ages, it is important that we have a comprehensive understanding of the processes that incorporate these markers into the stratigraphic record. Recent work at Go Da and Roc Tung in An Khe, Gia Lai Province in the central highlands of Vietnam has used the presence of tektites to claim an age of 0.78 Ma for stone artefacts (Derevianko et al 2018). In this paper we review the geological and archaeological contexts of tektite finds in SEA (Figure 1) to evaluate the reliability of the Middle Pleistocene ages claimed for the An Khe sites.…”

Kỹ Nghệ Sơ Kỳ Đá Cũ an Khê Trong Bối Cảnh Tiền Sử Việt Nam

“…Among these sites, four have been excavated: Go Da, Roc Tung 1, Roc Tung 4, and Roc Tung 7 (Figure 1) (Nguyễn, 2019). The results of the excavations and research were discussed in two international conferences: (1) "The Paleolithic of Vietnam in a Regional Context" organized by the Institute of Archaeology -Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Gia Lai Province in 2016, and (2) "The An Khe Paleolithic Industry within the Context of Bifacial Industries from Asia" organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Gia Lai Province, the Institute of Archaeology -Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) and Novosibirsk Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2019 and published in various scientific publications (e.g., Derevianko et al, 2016;Derevianko et al, 2018;Nguyễn, 2017aNguyễn, , 2017bNguyễn, , 2019. Some of the main research results are as follows:…”

“…Two tektite samples were analyzed at the IGEM RAN Geochemical and Geochronological Isotope Laboratory of the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Federation. Model 15.GD.M4.L1-2 from the Go Da site was dated 806,000 ± 22,000 years BP and Model 16.RT1.H1.F6.L2.2 from the Roc Tung site was dated 782,000 ± 20,000 years BP (Derevianko et al, 2018;Nguyễn, 2019, p. 12).…”