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Rach Nui: ground stone technology in coastal Neolithic settlements of southern Vietnam

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2017

Catherine J. Frieman Open the ORCID record for Catherine J. Frieman [Opens in a new window] ,
Phillip J. Piper ,
Nguyen Khanh Trung Kien ,
Tran Thi Kim Quy  and
Marc Oxenham Open the ORCID record for Marc Oxenham [Opens in a new window]
Catherine J. Frieman*
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
Phillip J. Piper
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
Nguyen Khanh Trung Kien
Affiliation:
Center for Archaeology, Southern Institute of Social Sciences, No. 49 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tran Thi Kim Quy
Affiliation:
ROCEEH Research Centre, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Marc Oxenham
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: catherine.frieman@anu.edu.au)
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Abstract

The discovery of a small portable grinding stone at Rach Nui in southern Vietnam provides significant new insights into regional Neolithic trade networks and ground stone technologies. Previous research held that the manufacture of stone tools took place near stone sources in the interior, along the Dong Nai and Be River basins, but the Rach Nui grinding stone comes from a Neolithic site in the Mekong Delta, approximately 80km to the south-east. This suggests that some manufacturing occurred away from raw material sources. Technological analysis indicates that the artefact was a portable tool for the polishing, maintenance and repair of ground stone adzes. Its discovery at Rach Nui may indicate the presence of specialist tool makers or itinerant traders. This research illustrates the complexity of Neolithic trading networks, and highlights the technological expertise that circulated alongside finished and incomplete objects.

Keywords

VietnamRach NuiNeolithicadzeground stone
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 91 , Issue 358 , August 2017 , pp. 933 - 946
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017 

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