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  • Cave excavation pushes back the clock on human migration to Laos

    Jun 21, 2023 11:30 am by Diana YatesDiscovery
    Interior of cave showing workers and scaffolding. The team excavated through layers of sediments and bones that gradually washed into the cave and were left untouched for tens of thousands of years. Photo by Fabrice Demeter

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    • Interior of cave showing workers and scaffolding. The team excavated through layers of sediments and bones that gradually washed into the cave and were left untouched for tens of thousands of years. Photo by Fabrice Demeter

    Fifteen years of archaeological work in the Tam Pa Ling cave in northeastern Laos has yielded a reliable chronology of early human occupation of the site, revealing that humans lived in the area for at least 70,000 years – and likely even longer.