| The primary objectives of this project are threefold; first, to assess the thesis that the lack of bifacial lithic technology in Southeast and Eastern Asia during the Lower Paleolithic indicates cultural retardation; second, to reexamine the wide range of variation in the typological composition of lithic assemblages and their technological patterns; third, to locate the sources of local raw materials, using these local raw materials to replicate various typologies and technologies, and to ascertain whether the varying characteristics of these sources significantly affect the nature of Lower Paleolithic tool assemblages. The scope of this project was both geographical and cultural. I worked at five archaeological sites in China (Lantian, Liangshan, Shilongtou, Guanyindong, and Bose), and three in India (Bhimbetka, Durkadi, and Hunsgi). I also investigated the geological features of the Kathmandu valley and reviewed material of an Early Paleolithic site, Kao Pah Nam, in Northern Thailand.;The primary approach was to use local raw materials to replicate archaeological lithic assemblages based upon the supporting archival materials from the excavation. I recorded the size, weight, quality of raw material and distance of sources from the site, and also documented the length, breadth, thickness, weight and number of the flakes in order to evaluate the effect of the raw material on artifact manufacture and artifact use.;The initial understanding provided by this project is based on the large number of new, Early Paleolithic finds in South and East Asia since the 1930s. Most of the sites I worked with were excavated within the last 15 years. There are many variations of typologies and technologies among these recently discovered early stone tool assemblages, so many in fact that once these findings are brought together, as in the present project, one realizes that it is not accurate to speak of cultural retardation in Southeast and Eastern Asia during the Lower Paleolithic. My fieldwork also indicates that geographical features and raw material availability directly affect artifact manufacture, the size and shape of stone tools, and the technology selected. |
