A prehistoric flexed human burial from Pha Phen, Middle Mekong Valley, Laos: Its context in Southeast Asia

Abstract

This paper describes a human skeleton from a rock-shelter in northeast Laos, dated to ~7000 BP. It was excavated in 2004 and moved en bloc to the Laos National Museum in Vientiane. Here we report observations made from the in situ skeleton. The burial is the largely complete but slightly damaged remains of a tall, middle-aged, probable male buried on his side in a flexed position. His teeth were heavily worn and one was infected but otherwise there is no evidence of poor health. We were not able to make an assessment of biological affiliation. In comparison with the very small samples of approximately contemporary skeletal remains from the wider region around the middle Mekong, it is clear that the burial position and dental health were not unusual, but that he was very tall for that period of prehistory.