ABSTRACT
Archaeological research in Southeast Asian caves was started in the late 19th century, by colonial officials in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Their investigations and subsequent research shows that caves have been used as temporary shelters and burial places by humans over the past 40000 years and serve as post-depositional containers for their stone, bone and shell tools, food remains and other material residues. The remains of these small bands of hunters and gatherers, probably of Melanesoid, or at least nonMongoloid type, are usually called the Hoabinhian Culture, from the region in northern Vietnam, where they were first recognized early in the 20th century. Fossilized remains of extinct hominid species have also been found in a few limestone fissure deposits in Vietnam and Thailand. Many caves also contain evidence for the non-anthropogenic climatic and environmental changes from the late Pleistocene into the mid-Recent period.
