Settlement at the Micro-scale: Microstratigraphy and micromorphology of transitional Neolithic settlement sites in Vietnam (5000 cal BP to 2500 cal BP)
Creators: name: Grono, Elle
Publisher: name: The Australian National University
Year: 2020

description: On present evidence, the transition from mobile hunter-gatherer societies to Neolithic sedentary agricultural communities occurred approximately 5000 to 3000 years ago in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). Archaeological evidence of this transition principally derives from the excavation of burial contexts. In contrast, settlement contexts are not well researched and are the 'missing factor' (Higham 2017: 369) in MSEA prehistory. The unbalanced nature of archaeological enquiry has important repercussions for hermeneutic traditions in the region. Cemeteries and settlements form through different depositional practices and across different temporalities, and thus encapsulate different aspects of prehistoric lifeways. Research in this thesis applies microstratigraphic investigations of site formation processes to understand the settlement experience and social context of communities during the MSEA Neolithic. A conceptual life history approach to archaeological settlement is integrated with a methodological approach combining geoarchaeology and microarchaeology to reconstruct temporal rhythms of dwelling at three occupation sites spanning the Neolithic transition in Vietnam. The sites investigated are: Thach Lac, a mid-to-late Holocene (c. 5100-4150 cal BP) coastal shell midden; Loc Giang, a mounded Neolithic (c. 3950-3250 cal BP) settlement; and, Lo Gach, a Neolithic (c. 3200-3000 cal BP) and Bronze Age (c. 2800-2500 cal BP) settlement. The principle analytical technique used is archaeological micromorphology, the study of thin sections of archaeological sediments. Supplementary analyses provide compositional information to assist in the interpretation of archaeological deposits; they include Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Automated Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (QEM-EDS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), phytolith concentrations, pH and particle size analysis. For each site, the multiproxy data are used to reconstruct a microstratigraphic sequence of site formation that provides rich insight into the materiality and temporality of social life within each settlement. Thach Lac was occupied by three distinct cultural groups, each with different settlement dynamics, across a millennium of significant environment and cultural changes. At Loc Giang, the construction of lime mortar surfaces and pile dwellings and the development of waste management strategies reflect continuity in social practices over time. At Lo Gach, intensified plant processing activities and structured waste disposal practices were performed recurrently across the life of the settlement. Material depositional patterns at the micro-scale can be linked to the organisation of social and economic activities within settlements, which in turn can be linked to macro-scale 'transitions' of sedentism and agriculture that are often associated with the MSEA Neolithic. Each site tells a unique narrative of occupation, involving specific social practices and use of space. The differing temporal patterns of the material world of the mid-to-late Holocene in MSEA suggest a rich, multivalent past that defies simplistic notions of a single, homogenous Neolithic. Site formation is demonstrated to be a robust tool for understanding the material world of archaeology, as well as a critical lens to interrogate the ways in which pasts are made meaningful. This research offers a fresh, contextual perspective on the lived experience of the Neolithic and negotiates uncharted space between a 'Neolithic of the living' and a 'Neolithic of the dead'.