An Khê Paleolithic Site
An Khe Vallee · Gò Đá Paleolithic
Lower Paleolithic 800–500 ka (Acheulean-like)·Acheulean-like (An Khê culture, Homo erectus)·🇻🇳 Central Vietnam, Gia Lai Province, An Khê Town valley, Ba River basin (upstream Thu Bồn–An Khê highland corridor), Vietnam
About
About An Khê Paleolithic Site
Early Paleolithic settlement (c.800,000–500,000 BP) at An Khê valley, Gia Lai — oldest Paleolithic site in Vietnam and Southeast Asia outside Java, discovered 2014 by Vietnamese–Russian Nishcheta team. Five localities (Rộc Tưng 1, Gò Đá) yielded Acheulean-style choppers, handaxes, cleavers and flake tools in lateritic terrace 20 m above Ba River, dated by tektite and paleomag to 800 ka (Lower Pleistocene). Shows Homo erectus occupation of Central Highlands 300,000 years before Ngandong, and pre-dates Hoabinhian by 700,000 years; lithic technology parallels Zhoukoudian and Baise, indicating northern Vietnam as H. erectus Southeast Asian dispersal corridor.
Why it mattersEarliest Paleolithic in Vietnam (800 ka) — pushes Southeast Asian H. erectus 300 kyr earlier than previously known; only Acheulean-like in Central Vietnam.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Are handaxes true Acheulean or convergent?
- 02Was An Khê H. erectus ancestor to H. luzonensis?
Theories
- 01Highland river corridor dispersal model; Baise–An Khê handaxe continuity from China to SE Asia
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.800,000–500,000 BP (Lower Pleistocene Acheulean)
- Period
- Lower Paleolithic 800–500 ka (Acheulean-like)
- Culture
- Acheulean-like (An Khê culture, Homo erectus)
- Builders
- Homo erectus (Southeast Asian erectus)
- Purpose
- River-terrace tool-making and butchery camp at highland river crossing
- Abandoned
- c.500 ka (Pleistocene terrace shift)
- Rediscovered
- 2014 Nishcheta–Vietnam Russian joint survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.800 ka
Homo erectus occupies An Khê terrace; handaxe-chopper industry established
c.500 ka
Terrace abandonment; later Hoabinhian caves in same valley but 700 kyr gap
2014–18
Vorobyov–Nguyen Gia Doi discoveries published; novelty debated Acheulean in SE Asia
On the ground
Structures & features
14.0000° N · 108.6500° E · 350 m · 2 mapped features
Rộc Tưng 1 locality
workshopMain handaxe-chopper knapping floor 30×20 m with tektite date
14.0005° N · 108.6505° EGò Đá locality
workshopFlake and chopper scatter on laterite terrace edge
13.9995° N · 108.6495° E
Gallery