Banyan cave
| Banyan cave
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| Location: | Northwest of Thailand , Mae Hong Son Province | |
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Geographic location: |
19 ° 38 ′ 0 ″ N , 98 ° 14 ′ 0 ″ E | |
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| Discovery: | 1972 | |
| Particularities: | Archaeological site | |
The Banyan Cave is located in the northwest of Thailand in the Mae Hong Son Province at the end of the Banyan Valley.
The Banyan Cave became famous in 1972 when Chester Gorman , following his discovery of the Phimaen Cave, researched further traces of the Hoabinhian culture in Thailand and found it in the Banyan Valley. At the end of the valley there is a water source between rising limestone cliffs in the middle of a rainforest.
The excavations took place on a 40 m² piece of ground and brought to light typical tools of the Hoabinhian people, short stone axes and hammers made of pebbles. They were believed to have been used to break animal bones to get at the bone marrow . Wild cattle, pigs and deer were hunted and fishing in the nearby Banyan River was also carried out . But there are also bones of macaques , langurs and bears , squirrels and even a rhinoceros . Beans , bottle gourds and nuts from balsam trees formed the plant-based diet of the residents alongside rice .
Using radiocarbon dating , the age of the finds was placed between 3500 and 2000 BC. Chr. Solid; however, the top layer dates from between 900 BC. And 900 AD and is therefore not part of the Hoabinhian culture. Surprisingly, it was found that the remains of rice belonged to a wild-growing variety and had not been grown. It is therefore likely that four and five thousand years ago hunters and gatherers visited the cave, and even a thousand years ago only people who did not know agriculture lived there.
Individual evidence
literature
- Timothy EG Reynolds: Excavations at Banyan Valley Cave, Northern Thailand: A Report on the 1972 Session. In: Asian Perspectives. 31, 1992, ISSN 0066-8435 , pp. 77-98, full text (PDF; 772 kB) .
- Douglas E. Yen: Hoabinhian horticulture? The evidence and the questions from Northwest Thailand. In: J. Allen, J. Golson, R. Jones (Eds.): Sunda and Sahul. Prehistoric Studies in Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Australia. Academic Press, London et al. 1977, ISBN 0-12-051250-5 , pp. 567-599.