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ល្អាងស្ពាន | |
  Laang Spean location in Cambodia | |
| Alternative name | Cave of Bridges |
|---|---|
| Location | Treng Commune, Ratanakmundul district,Battambang Province,Cambodia |
| Region | Mekong Floodplain |
| Coordinates | 12°51′N102°55′E / 12.850°N 102.917°E /12.850; 102.917 |
| Type | Cave |
| Part of | Phnom Teak Treang hill |
| Length | 63 m (207 ft) |
| Width | 20 m (66 ft) |
| Area | 1,200 m2 (13,000 sq ft) |
| Height | 30 m (98 ft) |
| History | |
| Material | Permian marinelimestone |
| Abandoned | around 3000 BP |
| Periods | Upper Paleolithic,Middle Paleolithic,Neolithic |
| Cultures | Hoabinhian |
| Associated with | Paleo-humans |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1965 to 1970, 2009 to current |
| Archaeologists | Roland and Cecile Mourer; Hubert Forestier and Heng Sophady |
Laang Spean (/ləˈæŋspiən/;Khmer:ល្អាងស្ពាន,L’ang Spéan[lʔaːŋspiən]; "Cave of Bridges") is a prehistoric cave site on top of a limestone hill (Phnom Teak Treang) inBattambang Province, north-westernCambodia. The site's nameCave of Bridges is in reference to the multiple limestone arches (or bridges) that remain after the partial collapse of the cave's vault.[1] Excavations are still in progress, and at least three distinct levels of ancient human occupation have been documented. At the site's deepest layers, around 5 meters below the ground, primitive flaked stone tools were unearthed, dating back to around 71,000 years BP (Before Present).[2][3][4] Of great interest are the above layers that contain records of theHoabinhian (11,000 to 5,000 years BP), whose stratigraphic and chronological context has yet to be defined. Future excavations at Laang Spean might help to clarify the concept and "nature of the Hoabinhian" occupation and provide new data on thePleistocene/Holocene transition in the region.[5]
Roland Mourer andCécile Mourer-Chauviré working for theRoyal University of Phnom Penh, undertook the first excavations from 1965 to 1969 and revealed evidence of prehistoric human occupation in Laang Spean from as long as 6,240 years BP ago. Objects that were found included tools made ofhornfel, pottery, burnt animal bones, carbonized matter, shells of mollusks and a great variety of micro fauna remains.[6] In a deeper middle layer artifacts and tools were excavated that "showed similarities with so-calledHoabinhian sites that had been uncovered in Southeast Asia, suggesting the possibility of a common cultural bedrock for a group of humans stretching from Burma to Vietnam."[7] Thirty years of war and ten years of mine clearing prevented further excavations.[8]
TheFrench-Cambodian Prehistoric Mission - a team founded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign affairs in 2009, and led byPrHubert Forestier (MNHN) andDr. Heng Sophady (MCFA-RUFA) - of Cambodian and French archaeologists and students - has resumed archaeological work since 2009 in room no. 2 (central part of the cave) over a surface of more than 40 m2 (430 sq ft) that provides newstratigraphic, chronocultural andarchaeo-zoological results. Currently, 20 stratigraphic units are recorded on a ground surface of 1,000 m2 (11,000 sq ft) to a depth of 5 meters without reaching the bedrock.[9]
TheNeolithic burial sites of four men and one woman dating from 3.700 to 3.300 BP. were found in one of the top layers. Some graves were lavishly adorned with stone jewelry while others lacked adornment, suggesting emergent social stratification among the population and provides researchers with "an original chronological, cultural landmark for South-East Asia, at the beginning of the Ages of Metal".[10]
The Hoabinhian level (later hunter–gatherers) contains split pebble tools and abundant faunal remains that date between 11.000 and 5000 years BP. The team discovered "a large stone featuring what appear to be etchings in the shape of an arrow, dyed with a redocher color...It could be the first case of art in Cambodia"[sic].[11]
The team uncovered rudimentary stone tools (chert flakes andpolyhedral, multiplatform cores) in the deepestPalaeolithic levels from as far back as 71.000 years BP.[12][13]
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