A Dictionary of archaeology

Edited By Ian Shaw and Robert Jameson, Blackwell Publishers td !""" ISB# $%&'!%!()*'%$ +alk, -a-er.

' Southeast Asia

The physical relief of the region of southeast Asia offers a sharp contrast between the floodplains of the Chao Phraya, Mekong and Red rivers and the intervening uplands. The climate is monsoonal, with a dry season which lasts from ovember to April, and rains which commence in May. The most significant environmental change in the !olocene involved the drowning of e"tensive continental shelves by a rising sea, and the formation of shorelines higher than the present sea level. #.$ Prehistory. The drowning of the continental shelves has prevented the consideration of maritime adaptation before %&&&'(&&& )C, when raised beaches with prehistoric settlements are encountered, but it is clear that the inland, forested uplands were occupied by small bands of transitory foragers. umerous rock shelters are known, particularly in the karst uplands of northern *ietnam, and these are often ascribed to the !oabinhian technocomple". The material culture included flaked river cobbles and, with time, edgeground and polished ad+eheads and pottery sherds. These sites have been dated from $$&&& )C, and some late conte"ts in northern Thailand lasted into the #rd millennium )C or even later. The material culture corresponds to that found in the lowest levels of thick coastal shell middens found on raised