AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INITIAL OCCUPATION PHASE AT NONG NOR, THAILAND (original) (raw)
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The fish-hooks 2 2 The size distribution of fish-hooks 3 3 The clay net sinkers 12 4 The harpoons 14 5 The bobbins 15 6 The bone awls 17 7 The bone micro-awls 19 8 The bone needle and bone disc 9 The worked stingray spines 10 The worked fish vertebrae 11 Examples of bone burnishers 12 Examples of the bone groovers 13 Examples of miscellaneous bone artefacts 39 14 The worked antler 15 The worked turtle carapace 16 Geological map of the Bang Pakong Valley 17 Geo-political map of the study area. 18 The polished stone adze terminology 19 Cache 1 cut from layer 11 into natural 20 Cache 2 cut from layer 11 into natural 21 The adzes of type 2D 22 The adzes of types 2A, 2B, 2E and 2F 23 The adzes of type 2G 5 24 The shouldered adzes of types 8B, 8E, 8F and 8H 25 The adzes of type 8D 26 Adze fragments 27 Polished stone chisels 28 The ground hoes 29 The grinding stones 30 Whetstones, an adze rough-out and worked stone 31 The miscellaneous stone artefacts • 32 The stone pounders and shale red bchre cores 33 The location of the various proposed sources of stone used at Khok Phanom Di 103 34 The right ankle of burial 15 showing the anvil and burnishing stones 106• 35 A woman from Bang Paeng, Singburi, Northern Thailand, burnishing a pot 107 36 Paddles and anvils used in forming pots, from Bang Paeng, Singburi, Northern Thailand 108 37 Burnishing stones from Khok Phanom Di and modem specimens from Northern Thailand 109 38 The burnishing stones from burials 110 and 107 112 Vll LIST OF FIGURES viii The burnishing stones from burials 132, 96, 94, 109 and 91 113 The burnishing stones from burials 123, 72, 82 and 83 114 The burnishing stones from burials 42, 29, 23, 20 and 35 115 The burnishing stones from burials 36, 15, 16 and 13 116 The burnishing stones from burial 13 117 The burnishing stones from burials 4, and 19, 6 and 1 118 The shell disc beads 120 The funnel and barrel beads 122 The I-shaped shell beads from burial 15 125 I-, Hand cylindrical shell beads 126 The disc/bangles of styles 1 and 4 from burial 43 131 The disc/bangles of style 1 132 The disc/bangles of style 1 133 Shell disc/bangles of styles 1 b and le 134 Shell disc/bangles of styles 4, 5, 8 and 9 135 Shell disc/bangles of styles 10 and 11 136 The stone disc/bangles 143 The ivory disc/bangles 149 The modified teeth 151 Modified mammalian teeth from mortuary contexts 153 The fish bone bangles 155 Unusual jewellery items from mortuary contexts 156 The turtle carapace plaques from burials 23, 24, 32 and 57 158 The turtle carapace plaque from burial 30, MP4 cat. 991 159 The turtle carapace ornaments 160 The turtle carapace disc/bangles and cores 161 The modified turtle carapace artefacts 163 The three regions of wear on prehistoric shell knives 178 S.E.M. photograph illustrating the characteristic smoothing of the lower zone of the blade's edge 179 S.E.M. photograph illustrating the smoothing apparent on the lower zone of the blade's edge 180 S .E.M. photograph taken at a higher magnification of the lower zone 181 S.E.M. photograph taken of the wear patterns produced on the lower reaches of a prehistoric shell tool 182 S.E.M. photograph illustrating the most common wear patterns present on the left and right dorsal areas of working blades 183 The method used in the creation of an experimental shell knife 185 S.E.M. photograph of the blade of a modem ground shell tool 186 The method most commonly used in harvesting grass 188 S.E.M. photograph showing the wear patterns produced after two hours grass harvesting 189 Experimental shell knife used in grass harvesting for two hours 190 Experimental shell knife used in grass harvesting for two hours 191 ix LIST OF FIGURES 78 S.E.M. photograph of an experimental shell knife used for 3 hours harvesting grass The technique used in the grass-scraping experiment 80 S.E.M. photograph taken of the wear patterns produced in the grassscraping experiments 81 S .E.M. photograph taken of the wear patterns produced in the rice-harvesting experiments 82 S.E.M. photograph taken of the wear patterns produced in the rice harvesting experiments 83 S.E.M. photograph taken of the wear patterns produced in the rice-scraping experiments, this example was used for two hours 84 S.E.M. photograph of the blade of an experimental shell knife used to work bamboo (x50) 85 S.E.M. photograph showing the wear patterns resulting from the cutting of bark cloth 86 S.E.M. photograph of wear patterns produced by processing one fish 87 S.E.M. photograph of wear patterns produced by processing two fish 201 88 S.E.M. photograph of wear patterns produced by processing three fish 89 S.E.M. photograph of wear patterns produced by processing four fish 90 S.E.M. photograph taken of the wear patterns produced in incising clay 91 S.E.M. photograph taken of the wear patterns produced in peeling taro 205 92 The shell knives 93 Worked shell of the genus Pinctada, Oliva and Nautilus pompilius 94 The shell spokeshaves 221 95 Worked shell of the genera Isognomon, Polinices and Cypraea 96 The size of the worked Placuna placenta from Khok Phanom Di 97 The worked Placuna placenta specimens from Khok Phanom Di 237 98 Incised motifs on pottery 99 Incised, impressed and incised and impressed motifs on pottery 100 Incised and impressed motifs on pottery 101 Incised and impressed motifs on pottery 247 102 Incised and impressed motifs on •pottery 103 Incised and impressed, cord-marked with smooth bands with incised lines and paddle-impressed motifs on pottery 104 Ridged and notched and applique motifs on pottery 105 The distribution of motifs by layer 251 106 Distribution and frequency of motif by mortuary phase 107 Zone positions for motif placement 267 108 Distribution of burials with pottery vessels within cluster 109 Motifs associated with clusters C and F LIST OF TABLES PAGE The fish-hooks 4 The net sinkers 5 The provenance and dimensions of the bone bobbins 8 The provenance and size of the bone awls 9 The provenance and size of the micro bone awls 10 The provenance and size of the modified fish vertebrae 24 The provenance and size of the clay pellets 38 The distribution of adzes. 50 The measurements of polished stone adzes 67 The measurements of polished stone chisels 87 11 The measurements of stone hoes 89 The percentage of grinding stones, pounders, and whetstones by layer 90 Burials containing burnishing stones 110 The distribution of disc beads 123 The distribution of barrel beads 124 The distribution ofl-beads 127 The distribution of H-beads 127 The distribution of shell disc/bangles 130 The stone disc/bangles 140 The distribution of ivory disc/bangles 150 21 The distribution of modified sharks' teeth 152 The modified mammalian teeth from mortuary contexts 152 The non-mortuary fish bone disc/bangles. 154 The fish bone disc/bangles from mortuary contexts 157 The style 12 disc/bangles of turtle carapace 162 The turtle carapace cod pieces or body plaques. 164 Miscellaneous turtle carapace artefacts 164 The chronological distribution of identified jewellery materials 165 The chronological distribution of the ornaments, based on presence and absence 166 30 The chronological distribution of the different bangle materials 167 31 The chronological distribution of disc/bangle styles 169 The distribution of bangle styles 171 The chronological comparison between the rectilinear and more complex styles 172 34 The identifiable features represented on the experimental shell tools 210 The dimensions of shell sickles 211 36 The distribution of P. placenta. 224 Worked Placuna placenta: the edges of the group A pieces 225 Worked Placuna placenta: the edges of the group B pieces 228 39 The length and width of the P lacuna placenta group A pieces 229 40 The provenance of worked Placuna sella 231 The weight of sherds with specific motifs from non-mortuary contexts 252 x xi LIST OF TABLES The distribution of motifs on non-mortuary pottery by layer and context A comparison of decorated to plain pots by gender and mortuary phase The distribution of gender-related motifs Frequency of gender-related motifs to burials with pots The distribution of motifs by zone on the pottery vessel The distribution of burials with decorated pots by cluster and sex The frequency of exclusive motifs per cluster Motifs associated with cluster F, MPS and cluster H burials through the female line 257 264 265 268 269 271 272 272 AUTHORS W E owe a deep debt of gratitude to the authors of this volume, who have contributed their skill and time towards an understanding of the environment and activities of the occupants of Khok Phanom Di. During the preparation of this volume, Jacqui Pilditch died following a long illness. All those who worked with her at Khok Phanom Di will remember her enthusiasm, dedication and the many hours she devoted to studying the jewellery. We would like this volume to serve as a memorial to her membership of our team.
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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2010
Ancient seeds from archaeological sites can provide clues that are crucial for understanding and characterizing subsistence strategies. This in turn contributes to our understanding of, and explanations for, the relationship between socioeconomic systems and organization of craft production. This article will examine the relationship between rice and millets at three prehistoric sites from a regional copper-producing center in central Thailand to provide new insights into the subsistence strategy of these communities and to better understand the relationship between these crops and their introduction and use in Southeast Asia.
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Journal of Archaeological Science, 1979
Beginning with a detailed presentation of the faunal spectra from Ban Chiang and related sites in Northeast Thailand, this essay reconstructs the palaeoenvironment during the period 3500 BC to the end of the prehistoric period. The evidence from the freshwater molluscs found in prehistoric layers suggests that the first occupants of Ban Chiang encountered a habitat with permanent lakes and clear, slow moving streams. Since the lakes contracted in the dry season, there were ideal conditions for practising wet swidden agriculture. From c. 1600 BC, the presence of water buffalo and associated changes in the faunal spectrum suggests the inception of wet rice cultivation. Such agricultural intensification, it is held, follows population pressure and accounts for subsequent settlement in the more arid plains of Thailand.
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THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE at Nong Nor, central Thailand, comprises the material remains of two phases of prehistoric occupation (Higham and Thosarat in press). The matrix of the site is a coastal midden, dating from the mid fifth millennium B.P., which contains burials of a later age. The initial expectation of the excavation of Nong Nor was that it would open the possibility of considering a site contemporaneous with the very rich estuarine settlement of Khok Phanom Di, 15 km to the north, which was occupied continuously for about 500 years (Higham and Bannanurag 1990, 1991; Higham and Thosarat 1993). The results of the Nong Nor excavations, however, indicate that the initial occupation predates that of Khok Phanom Di. This raised questions concerning the relationship between these two sites. To understand Nong Nor, a palaeoenvironmental investigation includes consideration of relationships between the archaeological remains and the natural sediments in the region, thus yielding indications of the physical site processes operating before, during, and after site occupation. This site-specific palaeoenvironmental study, however, demanded a broader regional perspective, which is largely reported upon here. This regional perspective is a palaeogeographical one, providing a geographical model of the region surrounding Nong Nor, detailed for the surrounding 35 km 2 and extending in less detail considerably further. The model now allows the site to be placed into a firm palaeogeographical setting, to predict the locations of further archaeological sites, and to place other known archaeological sites into firmer geographical and temporal context. The site at Nong Nor is located on the present flood plain on the southeastern margin of the Bangkok Plain, approximately 4.5 km NNE of the town of Phanat Nikhom, Chonburi Province, and some 27 km east of the present coast of the
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International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 1998
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