Abstract

Con Co Ngua is a water logged cemetery and midden site, first excavated in 1979-1980 by the Institute of Archaeology, Hanoi. It is situated in a low lying valley, 3 km from the Ma River and some 30km from the current coastline in Thanh Hoa province, Northern Vietnam. In 2013 MO led a 2 month excavation of a 12×7m trench that uncovered c. 170 human burials. In this presentation we discuss the context of this unique mid-Holocene hunter-gatherer cemetery as a prelude to some preliminary observations on the demographic composition of the cemetery, the spatial patterning of the burials, including orientation, and the deposition of the burials (with particular attention to the manner of interment), and the apparent change in burial practices from the early phases through to final phase. We will also provide some tentative interpretations of these findings in the context of what is perhaps the oldest pre-Neolithic pottery using forager cemetery in Southeast Asia.