The Mun Valley and Central Thailand in prehistory: integrating two cultural sequences

• Authors: Charles Franklin Higham , Fiorella Rispoli
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper compares the later prehistory in two regions of Thailand. The Mun Valley lies on the eastern side of the Phetchabun Range, the Lopburi Region (LR) to the west. They are linked by a major pass. While the Lopburi area is rich in copper ore, the Mun Valley has none. Quality salt is abundantly available in the Mun Valley but less so in the LR. This study explores the inter-relationships between the areas over a period of 2300 years which sharpens our understanding of both, and presents explanations and possibilities in the context of cultural transmission theories. Neolithic farmers with ultimate origins in China, arrived in the first half of the second millennium BC. Widespread exchange in prestige goods was a factor in the adoption of copper-base metallurgy in the late 11th century BC, when the LR became a producer, the Mun Valley an importer. With the Iron Age, (from about 500 BC), sites grew in size. During the course of this period, gold, silver, agate, carnelian and glass ornaments were ritually placed with dead elites. It is in these powerful and wealthy Iron Age communities that we can identify the early transition into states with population growth, agricultural intensification, conflict and increased production and competition over salt and metal for exchange.

Keywords

EN

Prehistoric Thailand; Neolithic; rice farmers; Bronze Age; cultural transmission; elite exchange; Iron Age; mortuary ritual

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Open Archaeology
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 1

Dates

online

2014-07-18

Contributors

author

Charles Franklin Higham

• Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Otago, P.O. Box
  56, Dunedin, New Zealand

author

Fiorella Rispoli

• International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (ISMEO), Via E. Giovenale 88, 00176 Rome,
  Italy

References

• [1] Rispoli, F., Ciarla, R., Pigott, V.C., Establishing the prehistoric cultural sequence for the Lopburi region, Central Thailand, Journal of World Prehistory., 2013, 26(2), 101-171
• [2] Higham C.F.W., Thosarat, R. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume 1. The excavation of Ban Lum Khao., Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/catalogsearch/ result/?q=9781782977964, 2005
• [3] Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A., Talbot, S. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume II. The excavation Noen U-Loke and Non Muang Kao., Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/ the-origins-of-the-civilization-of-angkor-volume-2-44287.html, 2007
• [4] Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume III. The excavation Ban Non Wat: Introduction., Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/the-origins-of-thecivilisation- of-angkor-volume-3-44288.html, 2009
• [5] Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume IV. The excavation Ban Non Wat: The Neolithic occupation, Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/the-originsof- the-civilization-of-angkor-volume-4-44289.html, 2011
• [6] Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume V. The excavation Ban Non Wat: the Bronze Age., Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/the-origins-of-thecivilization- of-angkor-volume-44290.html, 2012
• [7] Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume VI. The excavation Ban Non Wat: the Iron Age., Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/the-origins-of-thecivilization- of-angkor-volume-44291.html, 2012
• [8] Mills, B.J., Colonialism and cuisine. Cultural transmission, agency and history at Zuni pueblo. In: Stark, M.T., Bowser, B.J., Horne, L. (Eds.), Cultural transmission and material culture. Breaking down boundaries., Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2008, 245-262
• [9] Gosselain, O.P., Social and technical identity in a clay crystal ball, In: Stark, M.T. (Ed.), The archaeology of social boundaries., Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998
• [10] Dietler, M., Herbich, I., Habitus, techniques, style: an integrated approach to social understanding of material culture and boundaries, In: Stark, M.T. (Ed.), The archaeology of social boundaries., Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998
• [11] Wallaert, H., The way of the potter’s mother. Apprenticeship strategies among Dii potters from Cameroon, West Africa, In: Stark, M.T., Bowser, M.T. (Eds.), Cultural transmission and material culture. Breaking down boundaries., Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2008
• [12] Olausson, D.J., Does practice make perfect? Craft expertise as a factor in aggrandizer strategies., Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2008, 15, 28-50
• [13] Fine Arts Department of Thailand, Archaeological sites in Thailand, Vols. 1 and 2, Bangkok: Archaeological Division Publication No. 6, Thai Fine Arts Department, 1988
• [14] Williams-Hunt, P., Irregular earthworks in Eastern Siam: an air survey., Antiquity, 1950, 24, 30-37
• [15] Cremaschi M., Ciarla, R., Pigott, V.C., Palaeoenvironment and late prehistoric sites in Central Thailand, In: Glover, I. (Ed.), Southeast Asian Archaeology 1990., Hull: Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hull, 1992
• [16] Ciarla, R., A Preliminary Report on Lo.R.A.P. archaeological excavations at prehistoric Khao Sai On, Lopburi Province, Central Thailand., East and West, 2007, 57 (1-4), 395-401
• [17] Ciarla, R., The Thai-Italian Lopburi regional archaeological project excavation at Khao Sai On-Noen Din. Preliminary Report., East and West, 2008, 58 (1-4), 313-336
• [18] Natapintu, S., The contribution of archaeology to the improvement of life quality at Ban Pong Manao village, Lopburi Province, Central Thailand In: I. Piovano, I. (Ed.), La cultura Thailandese e le relazioni Italo–Thai., Torino: Centro Studi Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 2005
• [19] Ciarla R., The Thai-Italian archaeological project: preliminary results, In: Glover, I.C. (Ed.), Southeast Asian archaeology 1990., Hull: Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Hull, 1992
• [20] Ciarla, R. Lopburi regional archaeological project. In: Ministero degli Affari Esteri (Ed.), Missioni archeologiche Italiane. La ricerca archeologica, antropologica, etnologica., Roma: Ministero Affari Esteri, 1998
• [21] Rispoli, F., Preliminary report on the pottery from the 1989 excavation season at Tha Kae, Op. 1 Square A’, In: Glover, I.C., Proceedings of the 3rd ASEAAWE Conference., Hull: Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, University of Hull, 1992
• [22] Rispoli, F. Late-third/early second millennium BC pottery traditions in Central Thailand: some preliminary observations in a wider perspective, In: Ciarla, R., Rispoli, F. (Eds.), South-East Asian Archaeology 1992. Proceedings of the fourth international conference of the European Association of South-East Asian Archaeologists Rome., Serie Orientale Roma, Vol. 77, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, 1997
• [23] Rispoli, F., Ad occidente è l’India. Alla ricerca delle radici del processo di indianizzazione nella Thailandia Centrale., Ph.D. thesis, Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples, 1997, (in Italian)
• [24] Rispoli, F., I levigatoi/skin rubbers della Valle del Chao Phraya (Thailandia Centrale), In: Fontana, M.V., Genito, B. (Eds.), Studi in onore di Umberto Scerrato per il suo settantacinquesimo compleanno., Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 2004
• [25] Rispoli, F., To the west and India, In: Callieri, P., Filigenzi, A. (Eds.), Studi onore di Maurizio Taddei., East and West, 2005, 55, 243-264
• [26] Rispoli, F., Terracotta ear-studs and skin-rubbers: looking for the roots of Indianization in Central Thailand, In: Piovano, I. (Ed.), Cultura Thailandese e le relazioni Italo-Thai., Torino: Centro Studi Medio Estremo Oriente (CESMEO), 2005
• [27] Rispoli, F., Ciarla, R., Natapintu, S. The archaeological project and its implications, In: Italian Embassy and Silpakorn University, (Ed.), First international conference on Italian-Thai studies: from the late nineteenth century to the present., Bangkok: National Museum, 1997
• [28] Pigott, V.C., Weiss, A.D., Natapintu, S., The archaeology of copper production: excavations in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley, Central Thailand, In: Ciarla R., Rispoli, F. (Eds.), South-East Asian archaeology 1992., Proceedings of the fourth international conference of the European Association of South-East Asian Archaeologists, Rome: Serie Orientale Roma., Vol. 77, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, 1997
• [29] Pigott, V.C., Prehistoric copper mining in the context of emerging community craft specialisation in northeast Thailand, In: Knapp, A.B., Pigott, V.C., Herbert, E.W. (Eds.), Social approaches to an industrial past: The archaeology and anthropology of mining., London: Routledge, 1998
• [30] Pigott, V.C., Reconstructing the copper production process as practiced among prehistoric mining/metallurgical communities in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley of central Thailand., In: Young, S.M., Pollard, M., Budd, P, Ixer, R. (Eds.), Metals in antiquity., Oxford: British Archaeological Report (International Series) 792, 1999
• [31] Pigott, V.C., Ciarla, R., On the origins of metallurgy in prehistoric Southeast Asia: the view from Thailand, In: La Niece, S., Hook, D., Craddock, P. (Eds.), Metals and mines., Studies in archaeometallurgy, London: British Museum, 2007
• [32] Ho, C.M.W., The pottery of Kok Charoen and its farther context., Ph.D. thesis, University of London, London, 1984
• [33] Loof-Wissowa, H.H.E., Hill of prosperity: state-of-the art of the publication of Khok Charoen site, Lopburi Province, Thailand., Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, 1997, 16, 199-211
• [34] Watson, W., Khok Charoen and the early metal age of Central Thailand, In: Smith, R.B. and Watson, W. (Eds.), Early Southeast Asia., New York: Oxford University Press, 1979
• [35] Watson, W., Loof-Wissowa, H.H.E., The Thai-British archaeological expedition: a preliminary report on the work of the first season., Journal of the Siam Society, 1967, 55, 237-262
• [36] Malaipan, V. The excavation at Sab Champa, In: Smith, R.B., Watson, W. (Eds.), Early South East Asia., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979
• [37] Veeraprasert, M.S. Etude archéologique sur le site de Sab Champa., M.A. thesis, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, 1981-82, (in French)
• [38] Natapintu, S., Current archaeological research in Central Thailand with special reference to the site of Phu Noi, Lopburi Province, In: Ciarla, R., Rispoli, F. (Eds.), South-East Asian Archaeology 1992. Proceedings of the fourth international conference of the European Association of South-East Asian Archaeologists., Rome: Serie Orientale Roma, Vol. 77, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, 1997
• [39] Ciarla, R., The Thai-Italian al archaeological project: a survey of fifteen years of activities, In: Piovano, I. (Ed.), La cultura thailandese e le relazioni Italo-Thai., Torino: Centro Studi Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 2005
• [40] Onsuwan Eyre, C., Excavation of Ban Mai Chaimongkol, Nakhon Sawan Province, Central Thailand: A study of site stratigraphy, chronology and its implications for the prehistory of Central Thailand., MA thesis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2000
• [41] Onsuwan Eyre, C., Prehistoric and proto-historic communities in the Eastern Upper Chao Phraya River valley, Thailand: analysis of site chronology, settlement pattern and land use., PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2006
• [42] Higham, C.F.W., Higham, T.F.G., A new chronological framework for prehistoric Southeast Asia, based on a Bayesian model from Ban Non Wat., Antiquity, 2009, 82, 125-144
• [43] Higham, C.F.W., The Iron Age of the Mun Valley, Thailand., The Antiquaries Journal, 2011, 91, 101-144
• [44] Higham, C.F.W., the adult male burials and other adults of Iron Age period 1, northern group. In: Higham, C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of civilization of Angkor. Vol. VI. The excavation of Ban Non Wat Part Four: The Iron Age, summary and conclusions., Bangkok; The Thai Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2012
• [45] King, C.L., Bentley, R.A., Higham, C.F.W., Tayles, N., Viðarsdóttir, U.S., Layton, R., et al., Economic change after the agricultural revolution in Southeast Asia?, Antiquity, 2014, 88, 112-125
• [46] Sørensen, P., Hatting, T., Archaeological investigations in Thailand: The archaeological materials from the burials., Copenhagen: Munksgard, 1967
• [47] Fuller, D.Q., Sato Y-I., Castillo, C., Qin, L., Weisskopf, A.R., Kingwell-Banham, E.J. et al., Consilience of genetics and archaeobotany in the entagled history of rice., Archaeological and Anthropological Science, 2010, 2, 115-31
• [48] Rispoli, F., The incised and impressed pottery of mainland Southeast Asia: following the paths of Neolithization., East and West, 2007, 57, 235-304
• [49] Zhang, C. and Hung, H-C., The emergence of agriculture in southern China., Antiquity, 2010, 84, 11-25
• [50] Higham, C.F.W., Wiriyaromp, W. Neolithic phase 1, In: Higham, C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume IV. The 0xcavation Ban Non Wat: the Neolithic occupation., Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2010
• [51] Higham, C.F.W., Wiriyaromp, W. Neolithic ceramic motifs, In: Higham, C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume IV. The Excavation Ban Non Wat: the Neolithic occupation., Bangkok: The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2010
• [52] Weber, S., Lehman, H., Barela, T., Hawks, S., Harriman, D., Rice or millets: early farming strategies in prehistoric central Thailand. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences., 2010, 72 (2), 79-88
• [53] Eerkens, J.W. and Lipo, C.P., Cultural transmission, copying errors, and the generation of variation in material culture and the archaeological record., Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2005, 24, 316–334
• [54] Hodder, I., Entangled. An archaeology of the relationships between humans and things., Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012
• [55] Calder, A.M., Cracked pots and rubbish tips: An ethnoarchaeological investigation of vessel and sherd distribution in a Thai-Lao village., MA thesis, Otago University, New Zealand, 1972
• [56] Bentley, A., Shennan, S.J., Cultural transmission and stochastic network growth., American Antiquity, 2003, 68, 459-485
• [57] Shinoda, K. Mitochondrial DNA of human remains at Man Bac. In: Oxenham, M., Matsumura, H., Nguyen, D.K. (Eds.), Man Bac. The Excavation of a Neolithic Site in Northern Vietnam. The Biology., Terra Australis, 2010, 33, 95-116
• [58] Buckley, C.D., Investigating cultural evolution using phylogenetic analysis: the origins and descent of the Southeast Asian tradition of warp ikat weaving., PLoS ONE, 2012, 7(12): e52064. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052064
• [59] Higham, C.F.W., The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia: new insight on social change from Ban Non Wat., Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2011, 21(3), 365-389
• [60] Pigott, V.C., Natapintu, S., Archaeological investigations into prehistoric copper production: the Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project 1984–1986, In: Maddin, R. (Ed.), The beginning of the use of metals and alloys., Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1988
• [61] Ciarla, R., Rethinking Yuanlongpo: the case for technological links between the Lingnan (PRC) and Central Thailand in the Bronze Age., East and West, 2007, 57 (1-4), 305-328
• [62] Eerkens, J.W., Lipo, C.P., 2007. Cultural transmission theory and the archaeological record: providing context to understanding variation and temporal changes in material culture., Journal of Archaeological Research, 2007, 15, 239-274
• [63] Ferguson, J.R. The when, where and how of novices in craft production., Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2008, 15, 51-67
• [64] Pryce, T.O., Brauns, M., Chang, N., Pernicka, E., Pollard, M., Ramsey, C. et al., Isotopic and technological variation in prehistoric Southeast Asian primary copper production., Journal of Archaeological Science 2011, 38, 3309-3322
• [65] Cawte, H. The copper base industry., In: Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The 0rigins of civilization of Angkor. Vol. V. The excavation of Ban Non Wat Part Three: The BronzeAge, Bangkok: The Thai Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2012
• [66] Higham, C.F.W., Recasting Thailand. New discoveries at Ban Non Wat., Current World Archaeology, 2008, 31, 38-41
• [67] Negri, M.P. An experimental mapping method by means of fossil mollusk faunas: The Holocene Thai paleogulf., Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana, 2009, 48 (1), 41-50
• [68] Natapintu, S., Current research on ancient copper-base metallurgy in Thailand, In: Charoenwongsa, P., Bronson, B. (Eds.), Prehistoric Studies: Stone and Metal Ages in Thailand., Bangkok: Thai Antiquity Working Group, 1988
• [69] Pigott, V.C., Natapintu, S., Excavations at Non Mak La, Lopburi Province, Central Thailand, Ms. on file Internal Report submitted to the Thai Fine Arts Department on Fieldwork conducted in 1994 by the Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project, Philadelphia, 1997
• [70] Ciarla, R., Interazioni culturali e tecnologiche tra Cina meridionale e Sudest asiatico coninentale tra la fine del II millennio a. C. e l’inizio del I millennio a C.: la dispersione meridionale della tecnologia del rame/bronzo., PhD thesis Universita Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, 2013, (in Italian)
• [71] Higham C.F.W., Ciarla, R, Higham, T.F.G., Kijngam, A., Rispoli, F. The establishment of the Bronze Age in Southeast Asia., Journal of World Prehistory, 2011, 24(4), 227-274 [Crossref]
• [72] Vincent, B.A., Prehistoric Ceramics of Northeast Thailand., Oxford, British Archaeological Reports (International Series), 461, 1988
• [73] Vincent, B.A., Khok Phanom Di: The pottery., London, Research Report of the Society of Antiquaries of London LXX, 2004
• [74] Bellina B., Cultural exchange between India and Southeast Asia. Production and distribution of hard stone ornaments (VI c. BC– VI c. AD)., Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, with the participation of l’Ecole Française d’Extrême- Orient and Epistèmes, Paris, 2007
• [75] Roux, V., David, E., Planning abilities as a dynamic perceptual-motor skill: An actualist study of different levels of expertise involved in stone knapping. In: Roux, V., Bril, B. (Eds.), Stone knapping: The necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour., Cambridge: McDonald Institute, 2005
• [76] Bellina, B., Silapanth, P., Chaisuwan, B., Thongcharoenchaikit, C., Allen, J., Bernard, V. et al., The development of coastal polities in the upper Thai Malay Peninsula, In: Revire, N., Murphy, S.A. (Eds.), Before Siam was born., Bangkok: River Books, 2014
• [77] O’Reilly, D.J.W., The discovery of clay-lined floors at an Iron Age site in Thailand – preliminary observations from Non Muang Kao, Nakhon Ratchasima Province., Journal of the Siam Society, 1997, 85, 133-150
• [78] Cameron, J., The spinning tools, In: Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of civilization of Angkor. Vol. VI. The excavation of Ban Non Wat, Part Four: The Iron Age, summary and conclusions., Bangkok: The Thai Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2012
• [79] Chetwin, J. N., The remains of wattle and daub structures, In: Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A., Talbot S. (Eds.), The origins of civilization of Angkor. Vol. II. The excavation of Noen U-Loke and Non Muang Kao., Bangkok: The Thai Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2007
• [80] Iseppy, A. The Iron Age occupation in layer 3, In: Higham, C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of the civilization of Angkor. Volume VI. The excavation Ban Non Wat: the Iron Age., Bangkok, The Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2012
• [81] McGrath, R.J., Boyd, W.E. The chronology of the Iron Age ‘moats’ of northeast Thailand., Antiquity, 2001, 75, 349-360
• [82] Rivett, P., Higham, C.F.W., The archaeology of salt production, In: Higham, C.F.W., Kijngam, A., Talbot S. (Eds.), The origins of civilization of Angkor. Vol. II. The excavation of Noen U-Loke and Non Muang Kao., Bangkok: The Thai Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2007
• [83] Pigott, V.C., Mudar, K.M., Agelarakis, A., Kealhofer, L., Weber, S.A., Voelker, J.C., A program of analysis of organic remains from prehistoric copper-producing settlements in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley, Central Thailand: a progress report, In: Bacus, E.A., Glover, I.C., Pigott V.C. (Eds.), Uncovering Southeast Asia’s past: Selected papers from the 10th international conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists., Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, 2006
• [84] Pigott, V.C., Reconstructing the copper production process as practiced among prehistoric mining/metallurgical communities in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley of central Thailand, In: Young, S.M., Pollard, M., Budd, P,, Ixer, R. (Eds.), Metals in antiquity., Oxford: British Archaeological Report (International Series) 792, 1999
• [85] Cameron, J., Iron and cloth across the Bay of Bengal: new data from Tha Kae, central Thailand., Antiquity, 2011, 85, 559-567
• [86] Natapintu, S., personal communication.
• [87] Higham, C.F.W., The material culture, In: Higham, C.F.W., Kijngam, A. (Eds.), The origins of civilization of Angkor. Vol. III. The excavation of Ban Non Wat. Part I: introduction., Bangkok: the Thai Fine Arts Department, 2009
• [88] Connelly, R., The iron and bimetallic artefacts, In: Higham C.F.W., Kijngam, A., Talbot S. (Eds.), The 0rigins of civilization of Angkor. Vol. II. The excavation of Noen U-Loke and Non Muang Kao., Bangkok: The Thai Fine Arts Department of Thailand, 2007
• [89] Brown, R.L., The Dvaravati wheels of the law and the Indianisation of Southeast Asia., Studies in Asian Art and Archaeology, 1995, 18, New York: E.J. Brill
• [90] Cox, K., Bentley, R.A., Tayles, N.G., Buckley, H.R., MacPherson, C.G., Cooper, M.J., Intrinsic or extrinsic population growth in Iron Age Northeast Thailand? The evidence from isotopic analysis., Journal of Archaeological Science, 2011, 38, 665-681
• [91] Higham, C.F.W., Thosarat, R., The excavation of Khok Phanom Di: Volume VII. Summary and Conclusions., London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 2004

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/opar-2014-0002