Movius Line

Theories to explain the existence of the Movius Line include the idea that perhaps the ancestors of the toolmakers who settled in eastern Asia left Africa before the handaxe was developed.

Stone tools found at Ban Don Mun in the Lampang province of northern Thailand have trifacial elements which are a short step from the bifacial aspects of African hand axes.

It is possible that the environmental differences on either side of the Movius line prompted the invention of hand axes in one area and choppers in another.

These findings throughout the regions east of the Movius line brings to question the accuracy of the divide of Palaeolithic technological traditions.

Chinese archaeologist Chen Quanjia, who initially studied the find, called it a "complete repudiation" of the Movius Line hypothesis.