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The Invisible Plant Technology Of Prehistoric Southeast Asia: Indirect Evidence For Basket And Rope Making At Tabon Cave, Philippines, 39-33,000 Years Ago., Hermine Xhauflaira, Sheldon Jago-On, Timothy James Vitales, Dante Manipon, Noel Amano, John Rey Callado, Danilo Tandang, Celine Kerfant, Omar Choa, Alfred Pawlik

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

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. …