Xom Con
Xóm Cón (Hòa Bình) · Xóm Cón · Hoa Binh Xom Con · Hoabinhian Xom Con Cave
Pleistocene–Holocene Hoabinhian 11,000–8000 BCE·Hoabinhian (Colani)·🇻🇳 Hòa Bình Province, Mai Chau District, Xóm Cón cave on limestone karst tower above Mai Chau valley, Vietnam
About
About Xom Con
Eponymous Hoabinhian rock-shelter — Xóm Cón at Hòa Bình limestone karst above Mai Chau, type locality for Madeleine Colani's 1929 Hoabinhian pebble tool culture (c.11,000–8000 BCE). Terraced cave 12 m deep with Son Vi–Hoa Binh pebble chopper, oval Sumatralith, short axe, bone spatula, kid burial with Sumatralith cache, and C14 stratum below drip line. Xóm Cón defines Hoabinhian technology and, with Bau Tro and Lung Leng, brackets Hoa Binh Culture cave open-sequence dichotomy asked by tasks (Truong Son highland).
Why it mattersType Hoabinhian cave after which the pan-Southeast Asian industry is named — with Lung Leng validates Vietnam as Hoabinhian dispersion core.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Oval Sumatralith vs Da But flake — continuity or replacement?
- 02Kid burial hoard collection — ritual or cache?
Theories
- 01Xóm Cón as Hoabinhian dispersal camp from Indochina's karst arc
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.11,000 BCE Hoabinhian shelter occupation base
- Period
- Pleistocene–Holocene Hoabinhian 11,000–8000 BCE
- Culture
- Hoabinhian (Colani)
- Builders
- Karst foragers of Hòa Bình limestone towers
- Purpose
- Karst tower rock-shelter lithic factory and burial cave governing Hòa Bình valley foraging circuit
- Abandoned
- c.8000 BCE with Holocene forest shift and Bacson ceramic transition
- Rediscovered
- 1929 Madeleine Colani — Xóm Cón and Lang Bon cave pair establish Hoabinhian
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.11000–8000 BCE
Pebble chopper–Sumatralith shelter with short-axe and bone spatulas plus kid burial
1929
Colani names Hoabinhian after Hòa Bình Province caves (Xóm Cón, Lang Bon)
1980s
Vietnamese–French re-excavation — C14 11 ka confirms Pleistocene–Holocene transition
2000s
Lithic refit proves Sumatralith standardisation at Xóm Cón
On the ground
Structures & features
20.8200° N · 105.3300° E · 320 m · 2 mapped features
Xom Con Rock-Shelter Knapping Floor
cave12 m cave with pebble chopper–Sumatralith knapping pavement and short-axe reduction zone
20.8203° N · 105.3303° EXom Con Talus Burial and Sumatralith Cache
burialFlexed kid burial pit 1 m with ochre and Sumatralith cache on drip-line talus
20.8197° N · 105.3297° E
Gallery