The movius line and the bamboo hypothesis: early hominin stone technology in island Southeast Asia

Authors

Adam Brumm, University of WollongongFollow
M W. Moore, University of New England

RIS ID

44118

Publication Details

Brumm, A. & Moore, M. W. (2010). The movius line and the bamboo hypothesis: early hominin stone technology in island Southeast Asia. Lithic Technology, 35 (1), 7-25.

Abstract

The ‘Movius Line’ is the putative technological demarcationline mapping the easternmost geographical distributionof Acheulean bifacial tools. It is traditionally argued byproponents of the Movius Line that ‘true’ Acheulean bifaces,especially handaxes, are only found in abundance in Africaand western Eurasia, whereas in eastern Asia, in front of the‘line’, these implements are rare or absent altogether. Herewe argue, however, that the Movius Line relies on classifyingundated surface bifaces as Acheulean on typological groundsalone, a long-standing and widely accepted practice in Africaand western Eurasia, but one that is not seen as legitimate ineastern Asian contexts. A review of the literature shows thatbifaces are relatively common as surface finds in SoutheastAsia and on this basis we argue that the Movius Line is inneed of reassessment.