DSpace at VNU: Terminal Pleistocene human skeleton from Hang Cho Cave, northern Vietnam: implications for the biological affinities of Hoabinhian people

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Vol. 116(3), 201–217, 2008

Terminal Pleistocene human skeleton from Hang Cho Cave, northern
Vietnam: implications for the biological affinities of Hoabinhian people
Hirofumi MATSUMURA1*, Minoru YONEDA2, Yukio DODO3, Marc F. OXENHAM4, Nguyen Lan CUONG5,
Nguyen Kim THUY5, Lam My DUNG6, Vu The LONG5, Mariko YAMAGATA7, Junmei SAWADA8,
Kenichi SHINODA9, Wataru TAKIGAWA10
1
Department of Anatomy, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo 060-8556, Japan
Department of Integrated Bioscience, Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 277-8561, Japan
3
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Human Science, Hokkaido Bunkyo University, Eniwa 061-1408, Japan
4
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra ACT0200, Australia
5
Institute of Archeology, Hanoi, Vietnam
6
The University Museum, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam
7
Faculty of Literature, Waseda University, Tokyo 162-8644, Japan
8
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Saint Marianna University, Kawasaki 216-8511, Japan
9
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
10
Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai 162-8644, Japan

2

Received 16 April 2007; accepted 9 January 2008

Abstract An excavation at the cave site of Hang Cho in northern Vietnam resulted in the discovery
of a terminal Pleistocene human skeleton in a relatively good state of preservation. The material culture from this site belongs to the pre-ceramic Hoabinhian period. An AMS radiocarbon date on a tooth
sample extracted from this individual gives a calibrated age of 10450 ± 300 years BP. In discussions
of the population history of Southeast Asia, it has been repeatedly advocated that Southeast Asia was
occupied by indigenous people akin to present-day Australo-Melanesians prior to the Neolithic expansion of migrants from Northeast Asia into the area. Cranial and dental metric analyses were undertaken
in order to assess the biological affinity of early settlers in this region. The results suggest that the
Hang Cho skeleton, as well as other early or pre-Holocene remains in Southeast Asia, represent descendants of colonizing populations of late Pleistocene Sundaland, who may share a common ancestry
with present-day Australian Aboriginal and Melanesian people.
Key words: Hang Cho, Vietnam, skeleton, Southeast Asia, Hoabinhian, AMS dating, biological affinity
wan Island, Philippines (Fox, 1970; Macintosh, 1978; Dizon
et al., 2002), Gua Gunung Runtuh in Peninsular Malaysia
(Zuraina, 1994, 2005; Matsumura and Zuraina, 1999) and
Moh Khiew Cave in Thailand (Matsumura and Pookajorn,
2005) have provided additional support for the existence of
an ‘Australo-Melanesian’ lineage in ancient Southeast Asia
(for a review see also Oxenham and Tayles, 2006). Nevertheless, our knowledge of pre-ceramic period peoples is still
incomplete as a number of past studies were based on subadult or poorly preserved material. Discoveries of new specimens from the pre-ceramic period, coupled with detailed
morphometric analyses, are required to assess the hypothesis
of a Pleistocene occupation of Southeast Asia by AustraloMelanesians.
To address this issue the authors have focused on Hoabinhian sites, which were widely expanding over the mainland
Southeast Asia during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, in order to excavate additional human skeletons from
this under-sampled period. Over the last half century Vietnamese archeologists have devoted much of their efforts to
the study of the Hoabinhian, a term in Southeast Asia loosely equivalent to what in Europe would be called the Mesolithic, or pebble-tool complex (Tan, 1980, 1997). Current-

Introduction
The study of the population history of Southeast Asia is
complex due to various migration processes, the intermixing
of populations throughout prehistory, poor sample sizes and
limited radiometric dating. In general terms, Southeast Asia

is thought to have been originally occupied by indigenous
people (sometimes referred to as Australo-Melanesians) that
subsequently exchanged genes with immigrants from North
and/or East Asia, during the Holocene, leading to the formation of present-day Southeast Asians (Callenfels, 1936;
Mijsberg, 1940; Von Koenigswald, 1952; Coon, 1962; Jacob, 1967). More recent studies based on late Pleistocene
and early Holocene human remains represented by specimens from Niah Cave in Borneo (Brothwell, 1960;
Kennedy, 1977; Barker et al., 2007), Tabon Cave on Pala* Correspondence to: Hirofumi Matsumura, Department of Anatomy, Sapporo Medical University, South 1 West 17, Sapporo 0608556, Japan.
E-mail:
Published online 21 May 2008
in J-STAGE (www.jstage.jst.go.jp) DOI: 10.1537/ase.070416
© 2008 The Anthropological Society of Nippon

201


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H. MATSUMURA ET AL.

ly more than 120 Hoabinhian sites have been discovered and
studied in Vietnam, the majority being limestone caves and
rock shelters conducive to good preservation of human remains. Unfortunately, only a few late Hoabinhian sites, such
as Mai Da Nuoc and Mai Da Dieu (Cuong, 1986), have provided well-preserved skeletal material.
In 2004, our multinational project team excavated the
cave site of Hang Cho in northern Vietnam. This site, previously known to have early Hoabinhian cultural material
(Thuy and Doi, 1998), revealed an early inhumation burial.
The aims of this paper are to: (1) describe this cave site and
the material cultural context; (2) provide an absolute date
(AMS) of the human skeleton; (3) discuss the preservation
and dentocranial morphology of this specimen; and (4)

present the results of qualitative and quantitative comparisons of this specimen with prehistoric and modern samples
from East/Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific in order
to resolve the aforementioned issue of the biological affinity
of these early Southeast Asian peoples.

Description of Hang Cho Cave and its Cultural
Context

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Past and present excavations
In 1926 and then 1932 the French archeologist M. Colani,
who first detected this site, discovered dozens of stone tools
at Hang Cho Cave and identified them as belonging to a

Figure 1. Location of the Hang Cho site in Hoa Binh Province,
Vietnam.

Topology
The Hang Cho site is situated at the foot of a limestone
mountain located in Luong Son district, Hoa Binh province,
approximately 50 km southwest of Hanoi, northern Vietnam
(20°50′24″N and 105°30′11″E, see Figure 1). The cave,
which formed several tens of meters above the present alluvial plain, opens towards the southwest. The width of the
main entrance is 11 m with an average height of 15 m. The
subsidiary entrance has a width of 8 m and a height of 10 m
(Figure 2). The main chamber expands to a depth of 18 m
and a width of 20 m at its largest extent (Figure 3). The floor
of the cave slopes 1.2 m up to the northeast wall of the main
cave, with a hard deposit of freshwater shells at the higher

part of the floor. There is good natural light in the cave and
the path leading to it is quite manageable by foot. A large
and flat valley extends in front of the cave, an area that is today utilized for rice agriculture, while the main entrance to
the cave opens several meters above this field (Figure 2).
Figure 2. View of the Hang Cho site from the southwest.

Figure 3. Excavation trenches at the Hang Cho site. Pit I–Pit IV: excavation trenches by the present study. Key: shell, shell mound area; SN,
trench surveyed by Seoul National University; square mark with 1997, 1997’ excavation trench by the Vietnamese Institute of Archaeology; asterisk, sampling point of shells for AMS dating by Seoul National University in 2003; A–H, locations of cross-sections in Figure 4.


Vol. 116, 2008

Hoabinhian cultural assemblage. As her excavation notes
were not published, the location of her excavation trench is
unknown.
Following M. Colani’s work, the Vietnamese Institute of
Archaeology investigated Hang Cho Cave by opening a test
trench (2 m × 2 m) (Figure 3) in 1997 and found artifacts
manufactured from whole pebbles and flakes. The presence
of a substantial number of pebbles with circular depressions
identify the Hoabinhian nature of the assemblage (Tan,
1997), although there are still a considerable number of traditional chopper-chopping tools. Hang Cho site was settled
by early Hoabinhian people between c. 12000 and c. 10000
years BP (Thuy and Doi, 1998).
In 2003, research members of the Hanoi National University and the Seoul National University sampled the freshwater shell mounds formed in the main chamber (this sampling
point is shown in Figure 3), in order to derive AMS dates.
The shells provide calibrated dates ranging from
14100 ± 300 years BP at the lowest layer to 9710 ± 50 years
BP at the highest layer (Seonbok et al., 2004). These dates
suggest the possibility that the human occupation of this

cave continued for more than 4000 years and suggest that the
Hoabinhian cultural layers belong to the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene periods.
Our multinational excavation project took place in 2004,
with members consisting of archeologists and anthropologists from Vietnam, Japan, Australia, and students from Korea. Four excavation trenches were set up in various areas of
the cave, labeled Pit I, Pit II, Pit III, and Pit IV (Figure 3)
with a total excavated area of 43.7 m2. The stratigraphy, material cultural, and deposition of the inhumation burial are
described in the next section of this paper.
Stratigraphy and cultural context
Each excavation trench was divided into 1 m2 grids labeled with numbers. The soil was carefully removed from
every artificially identified layer of sediment of 10 cm in
thickness. Based on looseness of soil and the presence of
holes, the disturbed areas were identified. The soil was
screened through a 3 mm wide metal mesh to detect small
fragmental bones and flakes of stone tools.
Stratigraphic profiles of representative sections are shown
in Figure 4. The stratigraphy of the four excavated pits within the main cave and rock shelter areas are basically similar.
The upper part of the cultural layers had been removed or
disturbed, while the remaining layers below the surface disturbance are uneven in thickness and generally thinner
around the mouth of the cave. The cultural layers have an average thickness of about 1.0–1.5 m, although the color of the
layers and the volume of molluscan shells contained show
variations depending on which excavated pit is examined.
The composition of layers and the cultural material in each
pit are summarized bellow. The condition of the inhumation
burial is discussed in the description for Pit III. Vertebral
faunal remains found within the Hoabinhian cultural layers
will be reported at a later date.
Pit I
Pit I, excavated area 7.5 m2 and located under an overhang on the west side of the cave, revealed nine stratigraphic

HANG CHO SKELETON IN VIETNAM

203

layers. The upper portion in Layers I (surface soil), II (yellow soil) and III (charcoal and ash) were disturbed, whereas
the lower portions lying below the burned soil in Layer IV
(light brown soil) was relatively stable. This lower level revealed fresh-water shells, small lithic flakes, and animal
bones, while the upper portion included a few fragments of
cord-marked pottery. From Layer V (yellow-brown soil),
many potsherds, ornaments made from sea shells, and a
bark-cloth beater were found. These findings are associated
with the late Neolithic or the early Metal period (approximately 3500 years BP). From Layer VI (brown soil including a small number of broken shells) a cluster of Hoabinhian
lithic artefacts were uncovered. The lithics found in this layer were smaller than those found in Pits II–IV. From Layers
VII (dark brown soil with numerous shells) through Layer
VIII (dark brown soil with small numbers of broken shell),
down to Layer IX (dark brown soil with few shells), lithic
implements and flakes, bones, loess, and burned soil with
charcoal and shells were encountered.
Pit II
Pit II is in the northwest part of the main chamber, and has
an excavated area of 16 m2. The cultural layers of this pit
were more reddish in colour than those of Pit I, were porous,
and contained many shells, small lithic flakes, and bone artefacts. The north–western part of the pit was quite intact,
whereas the south–western part in Layer IA (brown porous
soil) was disturbed to a depth of approximately 50 cm from
the ground surface. From Layer IB (darkish brown soil
mixed with a large number of shells), a considerable number
of Hoabinhian artifacts were uncovered. This layer included
a thin layer of pinkish clay which was made of burned soil.
Layer IC consisted of brownish–pink porous soil with many
shells where a considerable number of lithic implements and

a thin calcified clay expansion including charcoal were uncovered. Layer II (brown porous soil) contained fewer lithics
than the upper layer.
Pit III with the inhumation burial
Pit III (11.2 m2 excavated area) was opened in the middle
of the main chamber and extended past the drip line. The top
layers, with a depth of 80 cm (Layers I and II), were heavily
disturbed. The hard brown soil in Layer III, which included
a 2 m × 2.5 m hearth, was stable and provided numerous
lithic artifacts of Hoabinhian culture and molluscan shells.
The inhumation burial, found beside the hearth, appears to
have been dug from the top of the hearth levels (Figure 5).
The apparent grave cut, which was devoid of grave goods,
was 80 cm wide and 148 cm long, with the head directed toward the east (the head at a depth of 82 cm, the body at a
depth of 92 cm from the ground surface). The supine body
was buried in a flexed position with the knees raised (and
subsequently disturbed and damaged at a later date).
Pit IV
Pit IV, at a higher elevation than the other pits and with an
excavated area of 9 m2, was located at the eastern end of
Hang Cho Cave. Under the surface soil of Layer I, compact
shell (land snail) layers (Layer III) spread at the rear of the pit
to an approximate depth of 70 cm. The dark brown soil in


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ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Figure 4. Cross-sections of excavation trenches and ground plan of the inhumation burial. A–H are the locations of cross-sections in Figure 3.

Layer IV provided many broken molluscan shells, fish bones,
small animals, and small lithic flakes with retouched edges.
Entering Layers V and VI (black soil and compact dark
brown soil, respectively) the number of lithics and molluscan
shells tended to decrease. The bottom of Pit IV was covered
by a culturally sterile yellowish-brown soil (Layer VII).

Lithic artefacts
A total of 1523 Hoabinhian lithics were found in situ: Pit,
I n = 144; Pit II, n = 700; Pit III, n = 310; Pit IV, n = 369.
Heavy cutting tools and scrapers made of cobbles were the
most frequently encountered lithics. In terms of typology the
following were identified: choppers and chopping tools with
cutting edges on the longitudinal edges, ‘Sumatraliths’ or
oval/almond-shaped unifacial artifacts, thick discoid flaked


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HANG CHO SKELETON IN VIETNAM

205

Figure 5. Burial position of the Hang Cho skeleton in Pit III.

cobbles, short and elongated axes, edge-polished adzes,
large stones with many small surface pits, and a few shell
scrapers. The most representative Hoabinhian lithics are illustrated in Figure 6. At Hang Cho Cave unifacial artifacts

outnumber bifacial ones, while many flakes shows signs of
use wear.

Dating the Skeleton
In typical AMS measurements, 1 mg of carbon, corresponding to 2.5 mg of collagen, is sufficient to determine the
radiocarbon age with an uncertainty of 40 years. If collagen
is initially greater than 1% of one-quarter of the fresh bone
weight, then 0.25 g of bone will produce enough carbon for
radiocarbon dating. However, many skeletal remains, especially older samples and those from tropical regions, do not
contain enough collagen. One of the authors (M.Y.) dated
the Hang Cho skeleton using a newly developed micro-scale
14
C dating technique (see references below).
The left lower canine root of the Hang Cho human skeleton was first cleaned by brushing and an ultrasonic bath. Organic matter attached to the surface was removed in a solution of 0.1 M HCl and 0.2 M NaOH. The sample was
crushed into fine powder by a freezer mill. The powder was
then sealed in a semipermeable membrane and gently reacted with 1 M HCl to remove hydroxyapatite. The remaining
matter was heated at 90°C in deionized water to extract collagen. The solution was filtered by a glass filter and lyophilized. The extracted ‘collagen’ was then analyzed for radiocarbon dating. For details of the process of collagen
extraction, see Yoneda et al. (2002).
The collagen was combusted into CO2 by an elemental analyzer (Yoneda et al., 2004). Carbon and nitrogen content
during extraction was monitored by elemental analysis
(EA). Trapped CO2 was reduced to graphite by using hydrogen and iron catalysis (Kitagawa et al., 1993). A graphitization system designed for micro-scale (< 100 μg) samples
was used for this sample (Uchida et al., 2004) because the
extracted matter was as small as 0.03 mgC.

Figure 6. Representative Hoabinhian stone tools unearthed from
the Hang Cho site.

Produced graphite was measured by NIES-TERRA, an
AMS at the National Institute for Environmental Studies,
Tsukuba, Japan (Tanaka et al., 2000). Each target was measured for 30 min (10 min × 3). The bone sample (630.5 mg)

produced a 0.2 mg extraction, the yield of which was 0.03%.
The empirical criteria for collagen yields in isotopic analysis
are greater than 1% (Ambrose, 1990; Van Klinken, 1999),
which shows the poor status of ‘collagen’ in this sample.
Other parameters suggested a bad preservation status as
well. Although the carbon and nitrogen content in well-preserved collagen are generally expected to be larger than 40%


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and 10%, respectively (Ambrose, 1990), the extracted matter (0.131 mg) contained 23.1% carbon and 1.36% nitrogen.
Furthermore, the atomic ratio of carbon and nitrogen (C/N
ratio) is the most reliable indicator for collagen preservation
(DeNiro, 1985). The biological samples given by DeNiro
(1985) display C/N ratios between 2.9 and 3.6, but this sample had a C/N ratio at 14.6, which is clearly at variance with
the background ratios
A small graphite sample (27 μg) was reduced from CO2
trapped by EA by using the micro-scale graphitization system (Uchida et al., 2000). The measurement of the 14C/12C
ratio was conducted with standard materials, NBS SRM4990c oxalic acid (HOxII) and IAEA-C6 sucrose. The size
of the standards was matched to the sample: 27 μg of HOxII
and 28 and 29 μg of IAEA-C6, respectively. The background level was corrected by a 14C-dead standard, IEAEC1. The 14C-free graphite (29 μg) was produced from IAEAC1 by reaction with 100% phosphoric acid. Exact matching
between samples and standards is very important for microscale 14C measurement, especially for samples smaller than
350 μg (Yoneda et al., 2004). Two results of IEAE-C6 at
153.0 ± 2.1 and 151.3 ± 1.9 pMC (percent modern carbon)
showed good agreement with consensus values at
150.61 ± 1.1 pMC. The background sample corresponds to

1.0 ± 0.1 pMC (37014 years BP). Graphitization and AMS
measurement of smaller samples, around 27 μg, provide reasonable results in this study.
The conventional radiocarbon age of this sample is
9259 ± 206 years BP, which was calibrated using a δ13C isotope fractionation value of −33.4 ± 1.3‰. It cannot be ruled
out that the isotopic value was somewhat influenced by diagenetic effects, nevertheless the age of the human remains
from the Hang Cho site is not inconsistent with the timeframe of the Hoabinhian lithic assemblage. Although the diagenetic effects seem not to be serious, we shall discuss this
problem, including the integrity of ‘collagen’ elsewhere. As
shown in Figure 7, the conventional age corresponds to the
calibrated age from 10,750 to 10,150 cal years BP (68.2%),
or from 11,150 to 9,750 cal years BP (95.4%). The calibration was conducted using OxCAL 3.10 (Ramsey, 1995) with
a calibration dataset INTCAL 04 (Reimer et al., 2004).

Description of the Human Skeleton
The Hang Cho individual was estimated to be an old, mature female based on the pelvic features, extent of tooth attrition, cranial suture closures, pubic symphyseal face morphology, and severity of osteoarthritis. Descriptions of the
preservation and the morphological features of Hang Cho
skeleton, including the determination of sex and estimate of
age at death, are provided bellow.
Cranium and teeth
Figure 8 displays various aspects of the reconstructed
Hang Cho skeleton, and Table 1 gives the cranial measurements taken following Martin’s definitions (Bräuer, 1988).
Facial flatness measurements and indices were taken after
Yamaguchi (1973).
Although the cranium was fragmented by crushing in situ,
almost all parts of the specimen were reconstructed. Missing

Figure 7. The calibration of the radiocarbon age of the Hang Cho
skeleton.

portions were the greater and lesser wings of the sphenoid
bone. The facial skeleton lacks the nasal bones and some

parts of the maxilla and palatine bones. Other missing portions include the ethmoid and lachrymal bones, and the inferior conchae and vomer, which together form the inside of
the orbits and the inner portion of the nasal cavity.
The cranial shape is ovoid in superior view. The cranial
vault is dolichocephalic (cranial index 71.9). The external
occipital protuberance is not prominent. The superior nuchal
line is moderately developed, but the nuchal plane is
smooth. The temporal line, to which the temporal muscles
attach, is marked in the frontal region but becomes weak towards the posterior end of the temporal bones.
The glabella region is prominently protruding compared
with the majority of modern East Asian females, although
the supercilliary arch is relatively flat. The frontal bone is
perpendicularly elevated. The facial skeleton is low and
wide (Virchow’s index 64.2). The orbital margins are relatively straight, while the nasal root is slightly concave. The
coronal, sagittal, and lambdoidal sutures are completely
fused ecto- and endocranially. The mandible expresses weak
alveolar prognathism. Frontal nerve incisures and superior
orbital foramina exist on either side of the frontal bone. The
supramastoid crest is well developed, while the mastoid process is moderate in size.
The mandibular body is relatively small and low, while
the muscle attachments are well developed. The mental eminence is weakly projected. The mylohyoid line is well angulated. The mandibular ramus is wide with a deeply concaved
mandibular notch. The preangular incisula is shallow and the
lateral prominence is small at the gonial angle. The attachment area of the medial pterygoid muscles is well developed.
The following teeth are present in the maxilla and mandible.
M3 M2 M1 P2 P1 C

/

M3 M2 X P2 /
right

X I1 O I2

C

/

I1 I2

C P1 P2 M1 M2 M3
C

X P2 X M2 M3
left

X = tooth lost antemortem and alveolus remodeled.
O = tooth lost postmortem and alveolus not remodeled.
/ = tooth lost postmortem and alveolus damaged.


Vol. 116, 2008

Figure 8.

HANG CHO SKELETON IN VIETNAM

207

Views of the Hang Cho skull, the upper limbs, and the left pelvis.

The mandible lacked the right second incisor, left first

premolar, and both first molars antemortem. The occlusal
surfaces of the remaining teeth were heavily worn, representing the 7th grade of the Smith system (Smith, 1984),
where enamel remains only on the outer rim, the entire occlusal surface of the crown being lost and secondary dentine
visible on every tooth. The right maxillary first molar and
right mandibular second molar exhibit open dental pulp
chambers on the occlusal surfaces. The crown of the right
mandibular third molar was chipped off at the mesial, buccal, and distolingual corners. The alveolus of the left lower
third molar was eroded by an abscess or granuloma.
High rates of interstitial wear reduced the mesiodistal
crown diameters and only the buccolingual diameters were
recorded (see Table 2). Unfortunately the heavy wear pre-

cluded extensive morphological study of the tooth crowns.
Infra-cranial skeleton
The following section summarizes the preservation and
morphological observations of the infra-cranial remains.
Both scapulae were fragmented and only the glenoid cavity,
acromion, and lateral margin were preserved. Both humeri
survive, except for the proximal heads. The right humerus
has a well-developed deltoid tuberosity (Figure 9, No. 1),
greater tubercle crest (Figure 9, No. 2), and a clear groove
for the radial nerve. Both left and right radii and ulnae were
well preserved and almost complete. The supinator crest is
pronounced in the ulnae, especially the right ulna (Figure 9,
No. 3). The ulnar tuberosity for both sides is very rough and
prominent (Figure 9, No. 4). The radial tuberosity of the


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H. MATSUMURA ET AL.

Table 1. Cranial and mandibular measurements (mm) of the Hang Cho skeleton
Martin No. and Measurement
1
1d.
2
2a.
3
5
7
8
8c.
9.
10
10b.
11
11b.
12
13
14a.
16.
17.
19a.
20.
21.
22.
23.

24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
28(1).
28(2).
29.

Maximum cranial length
nasion-occipital length
glabello-inion
nasion-inion
glabello-lambda
Basion-nasion length
Foramen magnum length
Maximum cranial breadth
Maximum temporal breadth
Minimum frontal breadth
Maximum frontal breadth
Bistephanic breadth
Biauricular breadth
Biauricular breadth (ra-ra)
Biasterionic breadth
Bimastoid breadth
Frontal base breadth
Foramen magnum breadth
Basion-bregma height
Mastoid height
Auriculo-bregmatic height

Auricular height
Cranial height (n-i)
Horizontal circumference
Transverse arc
Sagittal arc
Frontal arc
Parietal arc
Occipital arc
Lambda-inion arc
Inion-opisthion arc
Frontal sagittal chord

Martin No. and Measurement
192
189
183
173
189
(103)
(32)
138
135
100
112
109
119
120
115
(103)
92

(30)
135
23
118
124
112
550
315
398
130
150
118
48
68
130

29b. Frontal subtense
30.
Bregma-lambda chord
30(3). Lambda-asterion chord
31a. Occipital perpendicular
31b. Lambda-subtense fraction
32.
Frontal profile angle
32b. Nasion angle
32c. Basion angle
32(1). Frontal inclination
32(1a).Frontal inclination
32(5). Frontal curvature angle
33d. Occipital angle

33e. Parietal angle
33(1). Lambda-Inion angle
41.
Facial length (ek-po)
43.
Upper facial breadth
44.
Biorbital breadth
45.
Bizygomatic breadth
45(1). Bijugal breadth
46.
Bimaxillary breadth
46b. Anterior bimaxillary breadth
48.
Upper facial height
NPH Howell’s nasion-prosthion
48(d). Cheek height
50.
Anterior interorbital breadth
51.
Orbital breadth
OBB Orbital breadth (dacryon)
52.
Orbital height
54.
Nasal breadth
55.
Nasal height
61(2). Bicanine breadth

65.
Bicondylar breadth

Martin No. and Measurement
29
30
89
27
49
82
65
65
49
57
124
120
131
95
78
113
104
128
115
95
97
61
59
22
23
42

40
31
26
47
41
(118)

66.
67.
68.
69.
69(1).
69(2).
69(3).
69b.
70.
71.
72.
72b.
72c.
74.
77.
77a.
78.
79.
80a.
8:1.
17:1.
17:8.
48:45.

48:46

Bigonial breadth
Bimental breadth
Mandibular length
Symphyseal height
Mandibular height at mental
Mandibular height at M2
Mandibular body breadth
Mandibular body breadth at M2
Ramus height
Ramus breadth
Profile angle
Nasion angle (b-pr)
Basion angle
Alveolar profile angle
Naso-malar angle
Nasio-frontal angle
Orbit. profile inclination
Mandibular angle
Mandibular dental arch length
Cranial index
Length-height index
Breadth-height index
Upper facial index
Virchow’s index
Frontal chord
Frontal subtense
Frontal index
Simotic chord

Zygomaxillary chord
Zygomaxillary subtense
Zygomaxillary index

99
49
82
31
26
27
11
17
64
34
87
75
33
57
145
139
94
130
52
71.9
70.3
97.8
47.7
64.2
106
27

25.5
13.0
97
33
34.0

( ): estimated value; NPH, OBB: Howell’s definitions of measurements (Howell, 1989).

Table 2.

Buccolingual crown diameters (mm) of the Han Cho skeleton
Maxillary dentition

Right
Left
Average*

I1

I2

C

P1

P2

M1

M2

M3

—
—

6.63
—
6.63

9.26
8.23
8.75

10.15
10.37
10.26

10.96
10.79
10.88

12.57
12.55
12.56

12.92
13.05
12.99

12.15
13.02
12.59

Mandibular dentition

Right
Left
Average*

I1

I2

C

P1

P2

M1

M2

M3

5.69
—
5.69

—
6.33
6.33

8.07
7.89
7.98

—
—
—

—
—
—

—
—
—

—
11.74
11.74

11.33
—
11.33

* Average: right and left sides

right radius is prominent and exhibits an enthesophyte at the
insertion of biceps brachii (Figure 9, No. 5), while the left
radius is free of musculo-skeletal stress markers. Measurements recorded for the arm bones are given in Table 3. The
stature of the Hang Cho individual, using Sjovold’s (1990)
sex- and race-independent formula on the left radius, is estimated to be 162.5 ± 5 cm.
The carpals, including the right capitate, hamate, scaphoid,
pisiform, left hamate, and trapezium, are preserved. All the
right metacarpals are preserved, while only the 2nd and 5th

left metacarpals are present. All proximal phalanges except
the 1st, all middle phalanges, and the distal right 2nd, 4th,
5th, and left 5th phalanges were preserved in situ.
The right os coxa preserves only as a portion of the acetabulum and a part of the iliac blade. On the left side, the iliac, ischial, and pubic body are preserved, but the pubis is
separated from the other parts. The greater sciatic notch
forms an obtuse angle, suggesting the sex is female. Although the symphysial surface of the pubis is roughened and
has a clear ventral outline with slight osteophytes, the dorsal


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HANG CHO SKELETON IN VIETNAM

209

Figure 9. Close-up views of specific characteristics found in the upper limbs, pelvis, and talus. 1, a well-developed deltoid tuberosity in the
right humerus; 2, a greater tubercle crest in the right humerus; 3, a supinator crest in the ulna; 4, a prominent ulnar tuberosity; 5, enthesopathy on
the right radial tuberosity; 6, a pre-auricular sulcus in the right pelvis; 7, an extension of the medial malleolar surface in the left talus; 8, an extension of medial portion of the superior surface.

one is not distinct. The auricular surface is uneven and appears porotic. In the anteroinferior position of this surface
there is a clear pre-auricular sulcus (Figure 9, No. 6).

No femoral, tibial, or fibular elements were preserved due
to possible postmortem/post-interment disturbance. The preserved foot bones include the right calcaneus, left talus,
cuboid, navicular, and all cuneiforms, and the following tubular bones: right 3rd, left 1st, and 2nd metatarsals; left 1st,
2nd, 5th proximal, 2nd, 3rd, 5th middle, and 1st, 2nd distal
phalanges. The talus shows the extension of the medial malleolar surface and medial portion of the superior surface in
the anterior direction (Figure 9, Nos. 7 and 8). According to
the definition of Barnett (1954), these features are identified
as squatting facets. Identifiable vertebrae consist of cervical
spines and the sacrum, while preserved ribs are all highly
fragmented.

Morphometric Comparisons
Comparative samples
Cranial and dental measurements from representative late
Pleistocene and Holocene human specimens from the East/
Southeast Asian and Southwest Pacific regions were used as
a basis for comparison with the Hang Cho skeleton. A list of
comparative cranial and dental samples and data sources is
given in Table 4.
Skeletal remains from three late Pleistocene sites were
used for craniometric comparisons of the cranial metric data.
The first is a female individual from Moh Khiew Cave, Kra-

bi Province, southern Thailand, dated to 25800 ± 600 years
BP (Pookajorn, 1991, 1994; Matsumura and Pookajorn,
2005). Unfortunately the poor condition of the cranium
meant that only dental data can be utilized for comparisons.
The second comparative specimen is the Liujiang cranium,
Guanxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China (Woo,
1959). We treated the Liujiang cranium as female (after Wu

and Poirier, 1995; Wolpoff, 1999), although it has also been
sexed as male (e.g. Woo, 1959). The Liujiang dentition was
not used for comparison due to the lack of mandibular teeth.
The third late Pleistocene specimen used comparatively
is the Coobool Creek sample, Coobool Crossing on the
Wakool River, South Australia (Brown, 1989), dated to c.
14000 years BP.
The only early Holocene female sample is the Mai Da
Dieu specimen, which is a nearly complete skull of the late
Hoabinhian period (c. 8000 years BP) excavated from the
Mai Da Dieu rock shelter in Thanh Hoa Province, northern
Vietnam (Cuong, 1986).
Middle Holocene samples consist of five series, including
those from the Neolithic period. The Middle Holocene
Flores specimens, all from pre-ceramic contexts and dated
from c. 7000 years BP to c. 4000 years BP (Jacob, 1967),
came from Liang Momer, Liang Toge, Liang X, and Gua
Alo. The Guar Kepah series, discovered in a shell midden in
Lenggong district, Peninsular Malaysia (Callenfels, 1936;
Mijsberg, 1940). Only the dental samples were utilized from
above Flores and Guar Kepah series due to the poor skeletal
preservation of female crania. Man Bac is a late Neolithic (c.


210

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H. MATSUMURA ET AL.

Table 3. Limb bone measurements (mm) of the Hang Cho skeleton
Humerus

Right

Left

4. Bi-epicondylar breadth
4a. Maximum bi-epicondylar breadth
5. Maximum mid-shaft diameter
6. Minimum mid-shaft diameter
7. Minimum shaft circumference
7a. Mid-shaft circumference
6/5. Mid-shaft cross-section index

50
50.5
23.5
14
56
62
59.6

—
—
—
—
—
—
—

Radius

Right

Left

1. Maximum length
2. Physiological length
3. Minimum shaft circumference
4. Maximum Transverse. shaft diameter
5. Sagittal shaft diameter
4a. Transverse mid-shaft diameter
5a. Sagittal mid-shaft diameter
4(1). Transvers head diameter
5(1). Sagittal head diameter
5(6). Distal breadth
3/2. Length-thickness index
5/4. Shaft cross-section index

230
219
34
14
10
14
11
20
22
29

15.5
71.4

232
225
35
15
12
13
10
—
21
30
15.6
80.0

Ulna

Right

Left

2. Physiological length
3. Minimum shaft circumference
6. Olecranon breadth
11. Dorso-ventral shaft diameter
12. Transverse shaft diameter
12a. Transverse head diameter
3/2. Length-thickness index
11/12. Shaft cross-section index

223
36
24
17
11
14
16.1
154.5

226
36
23
13
13
15
15.9
100.0

3500–3800 years BP) or Phung Nguyen period (Cuong,
2001; Phung, 2001; Hiep and Phung, 2004; Matsumura et
al., 2008) cemetery site in Ninh Binh Province, northern
Vietnam. In the Man Bac series, only the cranial measurements were recorded by one of us (H.M.). The Japanese
sample is represented by a Jomon series which represents
early hunter-gatherers that lived in the Japanese archipelago
from c. 13000 years BP to 2300 years BP (Akazawa and
Aikens, 1986). The samples used here are of the middle to final Jomon phases (c. 4000–2300 years BP). In China a
Neolithic rice-farming sample from Weidun, south of the
Yangtze River, Jiangsu Province, dates from c. 7000–5000
years BP (Chang, 1986; Nakahashi et al., 2002).

Early Metal Age samples are represented by three composite series: (1) early agriculturist Ban Chiang, Thailand
(Gorman and Charoenwongsa, 1976; Pietrusewsky and
Douglas, 2002); (2) Dong Son remains from Vinh Quang,
Chau Son, Doi Son, Quy Chu, Nui Nap, Minh Duc, Dong
Mon, and Dong Xa located near Hanoi and dated from c.
3000 to 1700 years BP (Thuy, 1993; Cuong, 1996); and (3)
Yayoi samples, the first rice cultivators in Japan and dated
from c. 2400 years BP to 1750 years BP (Hudson, 1990)
from northern Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture (Kanaseki
et al., 1960; Nakahashi, 1989). An additional non-composite
series, the Jiangnan series, is an early historic sample from
southern China dated to the Eastern Zhou Period and Western Han Period in Jiangsu Province (Nakahashi et al., 2002).
Data recorded for several modern samples (see Table 4)

were also used for the cranial and dental comparisons.
There are discrepancies in the measurement systems of
upper facial height and orbital breadth between Howell’s
(1989) data and that of other researchers. Howell’s upper facial height (NPH) is measured at the anatomical point of
prosthion, while others use the alveolar point according to
Martin’s method (M48). Dodo (2001) noted an average discrepancy of approximately 2 mm in his studies of various female cranial samples. As for the orbital breadth, Howell
used dacryon (OBB) while others use the maxillofrontale
(M51). Data using both methods, recorded for Japanese female samples (Hanihara, 2002), indicate an average difference of 2.7 mm. Brown (1989) also adopted Howell’s method of utilizing either upper facial height or orbital breadth.
Because of these measurement differences, all the comparative data, except for Howell’s and Brown’s, were corrected
by subtracting 2 mm from the upper facial height and
2.7 mm from the orbital breadth measurements. The upper
facial height and orbital breadth after Howell’s method were
originally provided in Table 1.
Craniometric multivariate analysis
In order to confirm impressions of craniofacial proportions recorded in the previous skeletal descriptions, four representative indices based on the above cranial measurements
are compared between Hang Cho and other samples.

Figure 10 plots the averages of the cranial indices (M8/M1),
upper facial indices (NPH/M45), orbital indices (M52/
OBB), and nasal indices (M54/M55). The cranial index of
the Hang Cho specimen is low due to its dolichocranic
shape, which is comparable to prehistoric and modern Aboriginal Australians. With regard to the upper facial index,
the Hang Cho skull is characterized by a relatively low and
broad face. The nasal and orbital indices suggest that the
Hang Cho specimen has a low and wide orbital shape and
relatively low and broad nasal shape. Overall, the Hang Cho
cranium shares closer similarities to Australian specimens
such as those from Coobool Creek and Tasmania, as well as
to the Tolai Melanesians and Liujiang specimen.
The morphological affinities between the Hang Cho skull
and comparative samples were also explored using Mahalanobis’ generalized distance and Q-mode correlation coefficients (Sneath and Sokal, 1973). Both procedures indicate
the likelihood of similarities in proportion or shape of the
cranial morphology between samples, with the advantages
that Mahalanobis’ generalized distances take the inter-correlation of measurements into account, and the Q-mode correlation coefficients entirely eliminate the overall absolute size
factor. Contrasting the results from these two techniques
will help us to interpret the estimates of sample affiliations.
To calculate these values, nine cranial measurements,
available for the Hang Cho skeleton and the published female series listed in Table 4, were selected. That is, maximum cranial breadth (M1) and length (M8), cranial height
(M17), bizygomatic breadth (M45), upper facial height
(NPH), orbital breadth (OBB) and height (M52), and nasal
breadth (M54) and height (M55). The variance and covariance matrix used in this calculation of Mahalanobis’ generalized distances was derived from Howell’s data set.
To aid in the interpretation of the intersample phenetic af-


Vol. 116, 2008

HANG CHO SKELETON IN VIETNAM

211

Table 4. Comparative samples and data sources (females)
Sample

Locality

Period

Data (Skull)

N.

Data (Dentition)

N.

Matsumura and Pookajorn, 2005
—
Brown, 1989
Matsumura et al., 2001
Matsumura and Pookajorn, 2005
Matsumura and Pookajorn, 2005
—

1

Moh Khiew

Southern Thailand

Late Pleistocene

—

—

Liujiang
Coobool Creek
Mai Da Dieu
Guar Kepah

China
Australia
Northern Vietnam
Mainland Malaysia

Late Pleistocene
Late Pleistocene
Early Holocene
Middle Holocene

Woo, 1959
Brown, 1989
—
—

1
9

1
—

Middle Holocene
Flores
Man Bac

Indonesia

Middle Holocene

—

—

Northern Vietnam

Middle Holocene

4

Jomon
Weidun
Ban Chiang

Japan
Southern China
Northern Thailand

Middle Holocene

Middle Holocene
Early Metal age

Dong Son
Yayoi

Northern Vietnam
Western Japan

Jiangnan

Southern China

Japanese
Hainan
Australians
Tasmania
Tolai
Andaman
Atayal
Negritos
Dayak
Java

Japan
China
Australia
Australia
New Britain
India

Taiwan
Philippines
Borneo Malaysia
Indonesia

Early Metal Age
Early Metal age (Immigrant Type)
Eastern Zhou and Western Han Periods
Modern
Modern
Modern
Modern
Modern
Modern
Modern
Modern
Modern
Modern

Present authors (unpublished)
Ogata, 1981
Nakahashi and Li., 2002
Pietrusewsky and Douglas, 2002
Cuong, 1996
Nakahashi, 1989

38
3
28

—
8
1
9
4
—
210
29
33

24
135

Matsumura, 1989
Matsumura, 2002
Pietrusewsky and Douglas, 2002
—
Matsumura, 1994

Nakahashi et al., 2002

18

Matsumura, 2002

10

Howells, 1989 (N Japan)
Howells, 1989
Howells, 1989

Howells, 1989
Howells, 1989
Howells, 1989
Howells, 1989
Genet-Varcin, 1951
Yokoo, 1931
Yokoo, 1931

32
38
49
42
54
35
38
14
12
14

Matsumura, 1989
—
Brown, 1989 (Swanport)
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

28
—
23
—
—
—
—
—
—
—

—
79

N: sample size

finities, cluster analyses using the unweighted pair-group
method (UPGMA) (Sneath and Sokal, 1973) were applied to
the Mahalanobis’ distance matrix and Q-mode correlation
coefficient matrix computed using the nine cranial measurements.
Figure 11 represents two dendrograms resulting from a
cluster analysis applied to the Mahalanobis’ distance and Qmode correction coefficients respectively. Two major clusters were drawn in both dendrograms, in which the late
Pleistocene Liujiang and Coobool Creek, and the modern
Australian, Tolai Melanesian, and Tasmanian Aboriginal
samples form one major cluster to which Hang Cho specimen also clusters. The late Neolithic Man Bac and early
Bronze Age Dong Son specimens, despite being from neighboring regions in northern Vietnam, were clearly separated
from the cluster that include the Hang Cho specimen. These
later period Vietnamese samples belong to another major
cluster formed by the remaining Neolithic to modern samples from Southeast Asia, Southern China, and Japan.
Dental metric multivariate analysis

As noted, dental metric comparisons were made for buccolingual crown diameters only due to extreme interproximal wear which had reduced the mesiodistal diameters. For
the Hang Cho data given in Table 2, average buccolingual
diameters of the right and left side were used for statistical
comparisons where teeth and their antemeres were present.
Data from the third molars were not used in this analysis be-

cause of the lack of data from comparative specimens.
Figure 12 represents the summation of ten buccolingual
diameters of the comparative samples, and although tooth
size alone does not imply population relationships, it is possible to compare the degree of absolute largeness of Hang
Cho teeth to other modern and prehistoric samples. The late
Pleistocene Moh Khiew specimen is marked by the largest
total crown size. The tooth size of the Coobool Creek sample
is next largest, followed by the modern Australian Aboriginal and Middle Holocene Flores samples. The overall tooth
size of Hang Cho is comparable to the average size of these
samples.
Figure 13 displays the results of a cluster analyses applied to the Mahalanobis’ distance and the Q mode correlation coefficients computed using the ten buccolingual crown
diameters. In both dendrograms Hang Cho is connected with
a cluster containing the Middle Holocene Flores, Moh
Khiew Cave, and Australian samples, which is distinct from
another separate cluster joining the Neolithic to modern
samples from East/Southeast Asia.

Discussion
New radiocarbon dates for the Hang Cho skeleton provide
a calibrated age of 10450 ± 300 years BP (68.2%) or
10450 ± 700 years BP (95.4%), suggesting that this material
belonged to the terminal Pleistocene. This estimated date is
within a range determined by AMS dating using freshwater

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H. MATSUMURA ET AL.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Figure 10. Plots of cranial indices (M8/M1), upper facial indicies
(NPH/M45), orbital indices (M52/OBB), and nasal indices (M54/
M55).

shell mounds formed in the main chamber (14100 ± 300
years BP at the lowest layer to 9710 ± 50 years BP at the top:
Seonbok et al., 2004). Furthermore, this date is consistent
with the Hoabinhian material cultural complex uncovered
surrounding the burial of the Hang Cho skeleton. In Vietnam, only a few skeletal remains are known from the pre-ceramic level at Dong Can (c. 16000 years BP: Cuong, 1986),
Mai Da Dieu, and Mai Da Nuoc (c. 8000 years BP: Cuong,
1986). The Dong Can specimen is missing more than half of
one side of the cranium, and these pre-ceramic skeletal series lack post-cranial elements. The Mai Da Dieu and Mai
Da Nuoc series include nearly complete skulls belonging to
the later stage of the Hoabinhian period. Accordingly, the
Hang Cho skeleton is very important in terms of its good, including post-cranial, preservation and sound dating, indicating an early Hoabinhian period origin.
The Hang Cho skeleton, dated to the terminal Pleistocene,
may represent one of the early indigenous settlers of this region. Multivariate analyses of cranial and dental data, making large-scale comparisons with Northeast/Southeast Asian
and Pacific groups, demonstrates close affinities between

Figure 11. Dendrograms of cluster analyses applied to the Mahalanobis’ distance and Q-mode correlation coefficients, based on nine
cranial measurements.

Hang Cho and Australo-Melanesian samples.

Beyond Vietnam’s borders a considerable number of prehistoric human remains have been recovered in various regions of Southeast Asia (see Tayles and Oxenham, 2006, for
an overview). As far as the pre-ceramic culture sites are concerned, most of the skeletal remains are found in Malaysia
and Indonesia. Several sites in the north of Peninsular Malaysia have produced Hoabinhian (Tampanian) human skeletons, such as Gua Kajang, Gua Kerbau, and Gua Cha. From
the western part of Flores Island some human remains associated with Hoabinhian period artefacts have been recovered
from Liang Momer, Liang Toge Liang X, Gua Alo, Gua
Nempong, and other sites. Among these sites, well-preserved skeletal individuals are unearthed from only a few
sites such as Gua Cha, Liang Momer, and Liang Toge.
Although many of these skeletal remains from pre-ceram-


Vol. 116, 2008

Figure 12. Summation of the ten buccolingual tooth crown diameters of the Hang Cho specimen and comparative tooth samples.

Figure 13. Dendrograms of cluster analyses applied to the Mahalanobis’ distance and Q-mode correlation coefficients, based on ten
buccolingual crown diameters.

HANG CHO SKELETON IN VIETNAM

213

ic contexts are fragmented, a number of earlier analyses frequently described morphological features akin to those of
Australian Aboriginal or Melanesian people, citing their
dolichocranic skulls with protruding glabella regions, massive jaws with relatively large teeth, alveolar prognathism,
and long gracile limbs (e.g. Evans, 1918; Duckworth, 1934;
Mijsberg, 1940; Trevor and Brothwell, 1962; Jacob, 1967;
Bulbeck, 2000). They were all associated with pre-ceramic
levels and so-called ‘Sumatralith’ pebble tools (oval unifacials), hammer stones, and slabs, and were thus all said to
belong to the late Hoabinhian period.
Tracing back to the late Pleistocene and early Holocene

periods, several sets of human remains have been discovered
in Southeast Asia. In east Malaysia, Niah Cave in Sarawak is
the site of the earliest well-dated modern human remains in
Southeast Asia. The so-called ‘Deep Skull’ from Niah Cave
has an associated radiocarbon date of c. 40000 years BP
(Kennedy, 1977; Barker et al., 2007). In mainland Malaysia,
the excavation of Gua Gunung Runtuh revealed a 10000–
11000 years BP primary burial of an adult male (Zuraina,
1994, 2005). Tabon Cave on Palawan Island is a well-known
site which has produced the oldest human skeletal remains
in the Philippines, consisting of a frontal bone and two mandibular fragments and a tibia. The mandibular fragment has
been AMS dated to c. 30000 years BP (Dizon et al., 2002).
From southern Thailand, a late Pleistocene human skeleton
was excavated at the Moh Khiew Cave in Krabi Province
(Pookajorn, 1991, 1994). An adult female buried in the preNeolithic cultural level has been AMS dated to 25800 ± 600
years BP. The Wajak skulls from central Java in Indonesia
(Dubois, 1922; Weidenreich, 1945; Wolpoff et al., 1984)
have long been regarded as late Pleistocene, but AMS dating
of the skeleton indicates that a middle Holocene date (c.
6500 years BP) may be more appropriate (Storm, 1995).
The majority of analyses of Pleistocene and early Holocene East/Southeast Asian material demonstrate AustraloMelanesian characteristics in the skeletal and dental morphology, despite issues with using subadult or poorly preserved material (Brothwell, 1960; Macintosh, 1978; Cuong,
1986; Jacob and Soepriyo, 1994; Matsumura, 1995;
Matsumura and Zuraina, 1995, 1999; Matsumura and
Pookajorn, 2005). However, both Jacob (1967) and Storm
(1995) have identified so-called ‘Mongoloid’ features in the
Wadjak specimens.
Based on these earlier findings, as well as more recent discoveries of preceramic period skeletons, it has been argued
that Southeast Asia was occupied by an indigenous population, sometimes referred to as ‘Australo-Melanesian’, before
immigrants from East Asia dispersed widely into this region
(e.g. Callenfels, 1936; Mijsberg, 1940; Barth, 1952; von

Koenigswald, 1952; Coon, 1962; Jacob, 1967, 1975; Brace,
1976; Howells, 1976; Brace et al., 1991; Matsumura and
Hudson, 2005). This population history scenario for Southeast Asia is known as the ‘Two Layer’ or ‘Immigration’
model. This ‘Two-Layer’ hypothesis is supported by a wide
range of genetic, linguistic, and archeological evidence,
which has linked the pre-modern expansion of the Austronesian and Austroasiatic language families with the dispersal
of rice-cultivating populations during the Neolithic period
(Renfrew, 1989, 1992; Bellwood, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997;


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H. MATSUMURA ET AL.

Bellwood et al., 1992; Hudson, 1994, 1999; Blust 1996;
Glover and Higham, 1996; Higham, 1998, 2001; Bellwood
and Renfrew, 2003; Diamond and Bellwood, 2003).
There are, however, different interpretations regarding
these peoples based on recent studies of dental and cranial
morphology. Studies by Turner (1987, 1989, 1990, 1992)
based on nonmetric dental traits suggested that both early
and modern Southeast Asians display the so-called ‘Sundadont’ dental complex. Turner concluded that early Sundadont populations migrated into Northeast Asia and evolved
into ‘Sinodont’ populations. Cranial studies by Hanihara
(1993, 1994) advocated that Proto-Malays, similar to the
present-day Dayaks, widely inhabited Southeast Asia during
the late Pleistocene. Hanihara (1993) regards Proto-Malay
as an original source for present-day Southeast Asians.
Pietrusewsky (1992, 1994, 1999) analyzed a number of

large-scale craniometric data sets from Southeast Asia and
argued for regional continuity in Southeast Asia and relatively
close affinities between modern East and Southeast Asians,
coupled with a distinct dissimilarity to Australo-Melanesians. However, these studies did not include extensive
Hoabinhian period samples from Southeast Asia. In terms
of dental morphology, Lauer (2002) and Matsumura and
Hudson (2005) have analyzed data from combined Hoabinhian period specimens, and demonstrated their close affinity
with Australo-Melanesian samples. Bulbeck (2000) has discussed at length some of the interpretive problems resulting
from the scarcity of pre-Neolithic materials in Turner’s
Southeast Asian samples. Turner (1987) himself presumed
that further sampling, particularly of older remains, may
show the ancient presence of Australo-Melanesians in
Southeast Asia.
Our new discovery of the early Hoabinhian Hang Cho
skeleton is of crucial importance in resolving the issue under
debate here. Our skeletal and dental morphometric analyses
demonstrate that the Hang Cho remains share a number of
similarities with early Australian or Melanesian samples,
demonstrating the possibility that the first modern human
colonizers of mainland Southeast Asia and the Australian
subcontinent were ancesters of modern-day AustraloMelanesians in the region. The antiquity of this early colonization event is clearer for Australia where the earliest human
occupation dates back to approximately 50,000 years ago
(Bowdler, 1992). Australian teeth, which are most like those
of the early Southeast Asians (Hanihara, 1992; Turner,
1992; Matsumura, 1995), suggest a Sundaland (mainland
Southeast Asia for the most part) origin of the first Australians. Along with the above-mentioned late Pleistocene and
early Holocene fossils from Southeast Asia, such as the
Niah, Tabon, Moh Khiew and Gua Gunung Runtuh Cave
sites, the Hang Cho remains can be regarded as descending
from late Pleistocene Sundaland populations, which, in turn,

may share a common ancestry with present-day Australian
Aboriginal and Melanesian people. Some craniodental traits
exhibited by the Pleistocene founding populations in the region were retained in Southeast Asia peoples, represented by
Hoabinhians, until the early Holocene at least.

Acknowledgments
We express our sincere gratitude to Ha Van Phung, Director of the Institute of Archaeology, Vietnam, for permission
and collaboration during excavation of the Hang Cho site.
We are appreciative of the collaboration of the Hoa Binh
Provincial Museum during our excavation project of the
Hang Cho site. Thanks to Fumiko Saheki for assistance of
with skeletal reconstruction, and to Damien Huffer for comments on an earlier draft. This study was supported in part by
a Grant-in-Aid in 2003–2005 (No. 15405018) and in 2008
(No. 20370096) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of
Science, and a Research Grant by the Toyota Foundation in
2006–2007 (No. D06-R-0035).

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