EVENT
EVENT
A remarkably well-preserved 12,000-year-old skeleton has revealed the oldest evidence of human conflict in mainland Southeast Asia, offering a rare window into the lives—and deaths—of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Archaeologists working in a cave in northern Vietnam uncovered the remains of a man who died from a neck injury inflicted by a quartz-tipped projectile, providing the first clear case of lethal interpersonal violence in the region.
The skeleton was recovered from Thung Binh 1, a cave set within the dramatic limestone karsts of the Tràng An UNESCO World Heritage landscape. The international excavation was led by Dr. Ryan Rabett of Queen’s University Belfast and Visiting Fellow of the Institute for Hellenic Culture and the Liberal Arts at The American College of Greece, as part of the SUNDASIA project (2016–2020).
Dr. Rabett described the discovery as “like opening a time capsule. There’s a real sense of direct connection to the final painful weeks of this one individual’s life; and a powerful reminder that the sweep of prehistory was made up of lived moments, so often lost to us.”
Reconstruction and analysis by Dr. Alex Wilshaw (Liverpool John Moores University) revealed that the man was approximately 35 years old, around 1.7 meters tall, and had been in good health prior to his death. Genetic studies conducted by the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre in Copenhagen linked him to early hunter-gatherer populations across South and Southeast Asia, shedding light on the region’s ancient human diversity.
The findings of the study, led by Dr. Chris Stimpson (Oxford University Museum of Natural History/Natural History Museum UK), are published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Stimpson, who oversaw the recovery of the skeleton, said, “There were challenges and a few surprises; it was a privilege to work with our Vietnamese colleagues to get to know a former resident of Tràng An a little better.” Co-author Dr. Nguyen Thi Mai Huong of the Institute of Archaeology, Hanoi, described the discovery as “a rare and intimate glimpse into the lives of late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer communities in Southeast Asia.”
What sets this discovery apart is the cause of death. The quartz-tipped projectile fractured his cervical vertebrae. While the injury was not immediately fatal, it likely led to an infection that ultimately claimed his life. Dr. Benjamin Utting, a lithic specialist from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, highlighted the mystery of the projectile: “It doesn’t match any other stone tools from Thung Binh 1 or nearby sites, raising questions about who made it and where it came from.”
Dr. V. Manh Bui, Director of the Ninh Binh Department of Tourism, emphasized its broader significance: “This is a groundbreaking discovery—not only for its scientific value, but for its historical and cultural importance. It is a source of local pride and will deepen appreciation of Tràng An’s heritage for residents and visitors alike.”
This rare find adds to a still sparse record of Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in Southeast Asia and represents an exceptionally rare indication of interpersonal violence in prehistory. It also illuminates the complexities of ancient social life—and death—in one of the world’s most biodiverse and archaeologically rich regions.