ถ้ำผีแมน | |
  Spirit Cave Location in Thailand | |
| Alternative name | Tham Phi Maen |
|---|---|
| Location | Pang Mapha district,Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand |
| Altitude | 650 m (2,133 ft) |
| History | |
| Periods | Upper Paleolithic,Neolithic |
| Cultures | Hoabinhian |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Chester Gorman |
Spirit Cave (Thai:ถ้ำผีแมน,Tham Phii Man) is an archaeological site inPang Mapha district,Mae Hong Son Province, northwesternThailand. It was occupied 12,000 to 7,000 uncalibrated radiocarbon years ago by prehistoric humans of theHoabinhian culture.
The site is situated at an elevation of 650 m (2,130 ft) above sea level on a hillside overlooking a small stream. It was excavated in the mid-1960s byChester Gorman. TheSalween River, one of Southeast Asia's longest rivers, flows less than 50 km (31 mi) to the north. Two other significant nearby sites are the Banyan Valley Cave and the Steep Cliff Cave.
Human presence at the site is documented from theUpper Paleolithic to the earlyNeolithic, but the primary occupation layers represent Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers.[1] Radiocarbon dating of organic resin on some pottery sherds returned Late Neolithic-Bronze ages, at odds with Gorman's claims for the Palaeolithic age of the deposit.[2] Radiocarbon dating of four freshwater crab (Indochinamon sp.) dactyls from Spirit Cave showed that they all date to the Early Holocene, consistent with Gorman's claims of occupation during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.[3]
Gorman[4] claims that the Spirit Cave included remains of Prunus (almond), Terminalia, Areca (betel), Vicia (broadbean) or Phaseolus, Pisum (pea) orRaphia lagenaria (bottle gourd), Trapa (Chinese water chestnut), Piper (pepper), Madhuca (butternut), Canarium, Aleurites (candle nut), and Cucumis (a cucumber type) in layers dating to around 9,800 to 8,500 years BCE. None of the recovered specimens differed from their wildphenotypes. He suggested that these may have been used as foods,condiments,stimulants, for lighting and that theleguminous plants in particular "point to a very early use ofdomesticated plants".[5] He later wrote[6] that "Whether they are definitely early cultigens remains to be established... What is important, and what we can say definitely, is that the remains indicate the early, quite sophisticated use of particular species which are still culturally important in Southeast Asia".
In 1972 W.G. Solheim, as the director of the project of which Spirit Cave was part, published an article inScientific American discussing the finds from Spirit Cave. While Solheim noted that the specimens may "merely be wild species gathered from the surrounding countryside", he claimed that the inhabitants at Spirit Cave had "an advanced knowledge ofhorticulture". Solheim'schronological chart suggests that "incipientagriculture" began about 20,000 years BCE in Southeast Asia. He also suggests that ceramic technology was invented at 13,000 years BCE although Spirit Cave does not have ceramics evident until after 6,800 years BCE.[7]
Although Solheim concludes that his reconstruction is "largelyhypothetical", hisoverstatement of the results of Gorman's excavation has led to inflated claims ofHoabinhian agriculture. These claims have detracted from the significance of Spirit Cave as a site with well-preserved evidence of humansubsistence and palaeoenvironmental conditions during the Hoabinhian.
Gorman discussed cultural levels with respect tolithic artifacts and identified two layers at Spirit Cave.[6] Course-grainedquartzite was the most abundant stone found in both layers. The remains included largeunifacially worked pebble cores akasumatraliths, grinding stones, and retouched/utilized flakes.[6] Cultural level two consisted of new types of artifacts including flaked and polished quadrangularadzes and small ground/polished slate knives.[6] He used the findings at Spirit Cave to argue the notion that theHoabinhian culture was a techno-complex due to a response to similar ecological adaptations.[6]
19°34′04″N98°16′52″E / 19.5678055556°N 98.2810833333°E /19.5678055556; 98.2810833333