An ancient site from the Upper Paleolithic era has recently been discovered by the Vietnam Archaeology Institute and the Lao Cai Provincial Museum during an archaeological survey in early December 2005, located in Van Hoa commune, Lao Cai city.
The artifacts include hand axes, scrapers, and rudimentary cutting and chopping tools, all crafted from river cobbles. The manufacturing techniques showcase distinctive characteristics of Paleolithic stone tools. Notably, there is a unique type of artifact made from elongated, flat pebbles, featuring evenly spaced and symmetrical edge flaking that tapers to a sharp point. These tools are identified as handheld hoes, well-suited for the hunting and gathering lifestyle of prehistoric people in a mountainous terrain.
Preliminary research suggests that this site belonged to prehistoric humans during the late Upper Paleolithic period, dating back approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago.
