Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Despite a long history of archaeological and paleoanthropological research, our understanding of the Early Palaeolithic in Island Southeast Asia remains limited, as only a few sites with clear stratigraphic contexts - Mata Menge (Flores Island), Ngebung 2 (Java Island), Calio and Talepu (Sulawesi Island) - have been documented. This scarcity of well-stratified assemblages has led to a poor characterisation of technological variability and cultural sequences, which mainly rely on surface collections and early typological classifications/facies (e.g., Pacitanian, Cabengian, Cabalwanian, Liwanian, Arubian, etc). These classifications mostly based on a handful of cobble artefacts, have long obscured the technological diversity of early hominin settlements in the region. The Kalinga site (Luzon Island, Philippines), dated to ca. 709 ka, provides a rare opportunity to examine an Early Palaeolithic assemblage in secure stratigraphic context. Previous studies offered only a brief description of the lithic assemblage. In this article, we present the first comprehensive technological and structural analysis of the Kalinga lithic assemblage from two archaeological layers (units F and Y), applying analytical readings developed for West Eurasian Early Palaeolithic contexts. We also reassessed and questioned two previously defined Philippine “lithic facies” - Cabalwanian and Liwanian - based on surface finds in the Cagayan Valley since the 1930s. By comparing the technological characteristics of Kalinga artefacts with these assemblages, our aim is to clarify their variability, evaluate the validity of typological distinctions, and recontextualized Philippine lithic industries within broader Asian Palaeolithic frameworks, with particular focus to small flake technologies. This study contributes new data on early hominin technological behaviours in Southeast Asia and provides a basis for revising cultural classifications built on limited evidence.

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