| Abstract: |
The distribution of Hoabinhian type artefacts in the late to terminal Pleistocene and Holocene periods has in the past been taken as indicating patterns of diffusion, and perhaps movements of peoples, and this proposition has subsequently been rejected by many scholars. One of the issues has been whether it is possible to speak of a Hoabinhian culture, located in northern Vietnam, and whether this culture is evident elsewhere. I argue that the notion of a Hoabinhian culture is not very fruitful, but that it is useful to admit the existence of Hoabinhian types of artefacts found in many parts of Southeast Asia and the west Pacific rim, and to examine their distribution in the light of later trade patterns in the region.
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