Ben Marwick

This project revisits one promising rockshelter site that has previously been excavated by the Middle Mekong Archaeological Project (MMAP), Tham Vang Tha Leow. Previous excavation showed excellent potential for undisturbed Late Pleistocene archaeological deposits, but time constraints prevented excavation into these levels. Detailed accounts of Late Pleistocene forager archaeology have been produced from northern Thailand and Vietnam in the last decade but the geographically intermediate area remains poorly understood. This project involves the design of three training modules and work with a team of Lao archaeologists to excavate the lower levels of this site, with a focus on developing skills in field geoarchaeology, stone artifact analysis, and basic quantitative methods and archaeological numeracy