For the sake of clarity, the names of modern nations are used in this timeline to indicate geographic locations. Key sites for these wide-ranging societies include the Spirit and Ongbah caves in Thailand and Bac Bo in northern Vietnam. Pottery impressed with vines or mats in Vietnam and with cords in other regions is often found in the upper layers of such sites. The sea level, which around 10,000 B.C. was considerably lower, rises substantially. Rich agricultural settlements, which may have exchanged tools and shells, develop along the coastlines.
Austronesian people spread throughout island Southeast Asia.
Austronesian languages, art, and other cultural practices are also ancestral to the present-day cultures of Polynesia and Micronesia in Oceania. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions.