Comparative description of lithic industries from the Goda site and Rocktyng group of sites in Vietnam

The Lower Paleolithic Ankhe industry has been discovered at over thirty sites on the left bank and at two sites on the right bank of the Ba River. Pebbles and occasionally flakes were used as blanks for manufacturing cores and tools at the Goda site. Primary reduction involved simple pebble cores with natural platform and less frequently radial cores. The toolkit was dominated by picks, scrapers of various modifications, chopping tools and choppers as well as denticulate and notched tools. Bifacially processed artifacts had a special place in this industry. On the Rocktyng group of sites, pebbles and cobles of various shapes and sizes, their fragments, and occasionally spalls were used as blanks for cores and tools. At all locations, primary reduction focused on using cores with natural striking platform (single or double), cores with the prepared striking platform, multi-platform multifacial cores, and radial cores. The most numerous group of cores included single platform cores for massive shortenedflakes. The most numerous group of tools consisted of scrapers. Chopping tools and choppers included longitudinal and transverse varieties. Some of them had a slightly protruding spur. Rare tools included artifacts with nose as well as notched and denticulate tools. Secondary processing of bifaces was done only on their sharp points. Sometimes fine retouching was used for edge preparation. These materials constitute a single homogeneous industry with clear uniformity of primary reduction, preparation, and shaping of the industry-marking artifacts.