| Abstract: |
Most comparative studies of pottery and other material culture in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) have emphasised well-researched sites in Thailand, with little attention to the archaeological record from southern Vietnam. Recent excavations at An Son provide new opportunities to redress this disparity through comparative research between Neolithic sites in southern Vietnam and those in other parts of MSEA. This research employed systematic methods for data collection and statistical analysis in order to compare the ceramic assemblages and additional material culture at An Son, in the Mekong delta region of southern Vietnam, with 14 other sites in MSEA. The aim of this study was to place An Son and southern Vietnam within the context of Neolithic developments in MSEA at around the second millennium BC by determining regional relationships in the geographic distribution of material cultural traits and identifying regional patterns of connectivity and possible routes of migration that led to the appearance of the Neolithic community at An Son. The analysis suggests that sites in northeast and central Thailand have ancestral links with An Son, with the implication that Neolithic populations perhaps settled An Son via major tributaries of the Mekong River. Additionally, there are strong parallels between the material culture at sites in southeastern Cambodia and southern Vietnam, which suggests continuing contact during the Neolithic.
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