Lung Leng
Lung Leng (Kon Tum) · Lung Leng Central Highlands · Kon Plong Lung Leng · Lung Leng Son Vi
Pleistocene Son Vi / Hoabinhian c.10,000–6000 BCE·Son Vi → Hoabinhian (central Highland)·🇻🇳 Kon Tum Province, Kon Plong District, Lung Leng village valley headwater 15 km east of Kon Tum town, central Highlands, Vietnam
About
About Lung Leng
Highland Pleistocene centre — Lung Leng in Kon Tum's central Highlands, Son Vi? early Hoabinhian with 11,500 m2 open settlement destroyed for YALY?/Se San? hydro power plant 1999–2001. Largest Vietnamese Pleistocene dig: 1999–2001 Assoc. Prof. Bui? — 11,500 m2 with pebble chopper-core, Sumatralith, short axe, 30,000 lithics, charcoal dated 10,000–6000 BCE via C14 (11,600 BP). Lung Leng calibrates Hoabinhian–Buon Ma Thuot dispersal converging with Truong Son highland shelters and terminates before Bau Tro coastal horizon, proving Highland-inland chopper readiness to Neolithic.
Why it mattersLargest Pleistocene open settlement in Vietnam and the type-Son Vi Highland variant — verifies Hoabinhian Highland-to-Coast connectivity before Bau Tro Neolithic.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Open valley vs cave — why large-scale Highland headwater not lowland?
- 02Son Vi vs Hoabinhian distinct or sequential?
Theories
- 01Lung Leng as dispersal staging to coastal An Son via Truong Son passes
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.10,000 BCE Hoabinhian open settlement floor
- Period
- Pleistocene Son Vi / Hoabinhian c.10,000–6000 BCE
- Culture
- Son Vi → Hoabinhian (central Highland)
- Builders
- Central Highland highland foragers of the Truong Son plateau
- Purpose
- Highland headwater open chopper-core lithic factory and dispersal camp between Annamites and Mekong
- Abandoned
- c.6000 BCE with Holocene forest closure
- Rediscovered
- 1999 YALY hydro dam trench → 11,500 m2 rescue Vietnamese Academy 1999–2001
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.10000–8000 BCE
Chopper-core open factory — Sumatraliths, short axes, 30k lithics (11,600 BP)
c.6000 BCE
Highland forest closure abandonment — peat burial cap
1999–2001
Largest Vietnamese Pleistocene excavation — 11,500 m2 hydro rescue
2001
Cooperation Japanese–Vietnamese dating — 10 ka Hoabinhian northern extension
On the ground
Structures & features
14.6000° N · 108.3000° E · 610 m · 2 mapped features
Lung Leng Factory Core and Lithic Scatter
workshopFactory core 80×65 m with 30k chopper–Sumatralith refit scatters (valley centre)
14.6003° N · 108.3003° ELung Leng Valley Terrace and Peat-Capped Floor
settlementHighland valley terrace with peat-capped 0.6 m cultural deposit on laterite pavement (west edge)
14.5997° N · 108.2997° E