An outlook on prehistoric research in Laos: An inventory and some perspectives

Prehistoric Research in Laos was initiated during the French Indochinese period. Disrupted by unstable geopolitics, Laotian teams started to revisit prehistoric cave sites and rock shelters in the early 2000s. International interest in Laotian prehistory resumed in 2005 with a prehistoric survey of Northern Laos focusing more especially, on ancient period (pre-) Hoabinhian lithic techno-complex but also, more recently on rock art along the Mekong river banks. The purpose of this paper is not to discuss the periods classically referred to as “recent prehistory” by authors, which generally spans from the Neolithic through to Metal ages and sometimes even historical times. Rather, we provide a retrospective on prehistoric investigations, in Laos to date, independently of periods, with the main focus on stone tools. New perspectives for prehistoric research in this widely under-explored country are briefly discussed.