[Paper] The invisible plant technology of Prehistoric Southeast Asia: Indirect evidence for basket and rope making at Tabon Cave, Philippines, 39–33,000 years ago

via PLOS One, 30 June 2023: Paper by Xhauflair et al. discuses 39,000-year-old stone tools in Tabon Cave that reveal microscopic damage from plant fiber use, indicating advanced fiber technology for making baskets, traps, ropes, and composite tools in ancient Southeast Asian communities.

A large part of our material culture is made of organic materials, and this was likely the case also during prehistory. Amongst this prehistoric organic material culture are textiles and cordages, taking advantage of the flexibility and resistance of plant fibres. While in very exceptional cases and under very favourable circumstances, fragments of baskets and cords have survived and were discovered in late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sites, these objects are generally not preserved, especially in tropical regions. We report here indirect evidence of basket/tying material making found on stone tools dating to 39–33,000 BP from Tabon Cave, Palawan Philippines. The distribution of use-wear on these artefacts is the same as the distribution observed on experimental tools used to thin fibres, following a technique that is widespread in the region currently. The goal of this activity is to turn hard plant segments into supple strips suitable as tying material or to weave baskets, traps, and even boats. This study shows early evidence of this practice in Southeast Asia and adds to the growing set of discoveries showing that fibre technology was an integral part of late Pleistocene skillset. This paper also provides a new way to identify supple strips of fibres made of tropical plants in the archaeological record, an organic technology that is otherwise most of the time invisible.

Source: The invisible plant technology of Prehistoric Southeast Asia: Indirect evidence for basket and rope making at Tabon Cave, Philippines, 39–33,000 years ago | PLOS ONE

See also:

• Stone tools in Filipino cave were used to make ropes 40,000 years ago | New Scientist, 30 June 2023
• The invisible plant technology of the prehistoric Philippines | PLOS, 30 June 2023
• Damage on 39,000-year-old tools may reveal a prehistoric ‘Age of Bamboo’ | Pop Sci, 30 June 2023
• Microscopic evidence of plant technology in Philippines 39,000 years ago | Cosmos, 02 July 2023
• Researchers link stone tools found in Tabon Cave to ancient weaving practices of the Pala’wan | Palawan News. 03 July 2023
• Stone tools from Tabon Cave | Manila Standard, 03 July 2023
• Earliest evidence of basket and ties making in Southeast Asia found in Palawan, says archaeologists and researchers | Tatler, 07 July 2023