Dating the Myanmar Bronze Age: Preliminary 14C dates from the Oakaie 1 cemetery near Nyaung’gan (original) (raw)
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A first absolute chronology for Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age Myanmar N 0 km 4000 Nyaung'gan Late prehistoric archaeological research in Myanmar is in a phase of rapid expansion. Recent work by the Mission Archéologique Française au Myanmar aims to establish a reliable Neolithic to Iron Age culturehistorical sequence, which can then be compared to surrounding regions of Southeast Asia. Excavations at Nyaung'gan and Oakaie in central Myanmar have provided 52 new AMS dates, which allow the creation of Myanmar's first reliable prehistoric radiometric chronology. They have also identified the Neolithic to Bronze Age transition in central Myanmar, which is of critical importance in understanding long-range interactions at the national, regional and inter-regional level. This research provides the first significant step towards placing late prehistoric Myanmar in its global context.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018
Here we begin to investigate prehistoric kinship and social differentiation in ancient Myanmar, through analyses of strontium isotopes in human tooth samples from excavated skeletal remains of 18 individuals from the archaeological sites of Oakaie 1 and Nyaung'gan, in Sagaing Division, central Myanmar. The archaeological deposits at these sites span the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (approximately 12th to 8th c. BCE). These isotopic data are interpreted in association with bioarchaeological, material culture and stratigraphic data. These preliminary results suggest a differentiation in mean strontium signatures between the sites, which are < 3 km apart, but with sex-based patterns within the sites. This indicates kinship was a strong organizing principle, with little long-distance migration, despite apparently considerable long-distance exchange networks active by the early Bronze Age in Myanmar.
Nyaung-gan: A Preliminary Note on a Bronze Age Cemetery near Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma)
Preliminary excavations were made in 1998 at a cemetery south of Nyaung-gan Village, near Mandalay, in central Myanmar (Burma). The site is located on the edge of a volcanic crater; there are nearby copper deposits. Three main types of artifacts were recovered from the excavation: ceramics, stone rings, and bronzes. Survey of the surrounding area includes possible smelting and stone ring production sites. Much remains to be learned about the Nyaung-gan cemetery, but it is already clear that the finds from the site contribute greatly to the knowledge of Myanmar prehistory. Keywords: Burma, Myanmar, prehistory, Pyu, stone rings, Southeast Asia.
Ywa Htin. Iron Age burials in the Samon Valley, Upper Burma
2007
"The excavation of the Ywa Htin Iron Age site in the region of Pyaw Bwe (Mandalay), carried out by a French-Burmese team, led to the discovery of 180 graves (65 skeletons were found to be in a more or less good state of conservation). This volume first of all presents the research project and the conditions for excavation. The anthropological field study was complemented by a specific study of children’s graves and by an odontological study. The ensemble of the remains discovered is presented, followed by analysis and specialised studies (ceramology, typology of bronze axes, analysis of glass and semi-precious stone ornaments, copper and bronze analyses, and carbon dating) complete the monograph. The inventory of the graves is followed by a list of the objects found on the site and those examined in public and private collections. The work replaces the discoveries in their context of the Samon valley around Pyaw Bwe and, more generally, at the heart of regional exchanges which took place during the Iron Age."
Palaeolithic Zooarchaeology in Myanmar: A Review and Future Prospects
2015
The Anyathian culture, one of the prominent stone artefact traditions in Mainland Southeast Asia spanning the Pleistocene and Holocene, has been frequently described at archaeological sites in the central belt of Myanmar. Human exploitative patterns of plant and animal resources relating to the Anyathian are obscure due to the paucity of systematic stratigraphic excavations in Myanmar. However, recent research in the States of Shan and Kayin has shown that Myanmar has the potential to contribute to a better understanding of human subsistence economies at hunter-gatherer sites throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. This study reviews faunal evidence recovered in association with stone artefacts at hunter-gatherer sites throughout Myanmar and illustrates the significance that further, more intensive research and better chronometric dating has for developing our understanding of foraging strategies in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in Myanmar.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2016
Myanmar has been notably under-represented in recent studies of archaeometallurgy in Southeast Asia, despite its richness in both mineral and cultural resources and its potentially central role in longdistance exchange networks linking India, China and peninsular neighbours. Here, we present original analytical data on copper-base artefacts from several Bronze Age and Iron Age sites in Myanmar. Observed microstructures range from as-cast, worked, to fully annealed; compositions include leaded copper, low-tin to high-tin bronzes, and arsenical copper/bronze. Lead isotope analyses indicate that the metal originates from different geological sources, including several that match the lead isotope signatures of known prehistoric copper mines in Thailand and Laos. These archaeometallurgical data, including evidence for secondary copper-base production, more than double those currently available for Myanmar and document the presence of multiple local alloying and working traditions, perhaps chronologically differentiated, as well as identifying possible links to primary mineral sources across the region. Overall, this adds significant new information to the emerging picture of Southeast Asian prehistoric metallurgy at the crossroads of several major ancient cultures.
Anat Biol Anthropol Vol. 33, No. 2 (2020) pp. 37~44, 2020
Myin Ma Hti is the local name meant that the mountain horse never touches. In Myanmer, this name is very popular as the Buddhist religious place. Most pilgrims usually visit to the area of Myin Ma Hti. In 1997, a new limestone cave was discovered during the field trip of local geological team and the first explorer gave the name for the cave as Myin Ma Hti Cave No. 2. In their 1997 report, the archaeo-faunal remains and stone implements were recorded as teeth and vertebrate bones of bull, ox, deer and polished stone rings and implements that could be estimated as the Neolithic context dated as 6,000-4,000 BP. In 2019, the environmental assessment team accidentally arrived into the cave and they found some significant remains of stone tools mingled with a pile of bone fragments after the local people dug the floor of cave to build the religious stupa. Then, rescue archaeological works had been initiated to take recording and making catalogue of bone fragments and stone pieces. Most of the findings are the bone fragments and wasters of stone rings. The special findings are potential bone tools with the cut and scrape marks of edging and sharpening. The anthropogenic feature could be examined with the ash layer 3-meter depth approximately. In this report, the significance of archaeofaunal evidences and stone implements accidentally found in MMH2 will be described as the preliminary survey of prehistoric cave in Aung Pan Township, Shan State, Myanmar. Keywords : Bone tools, Stone implements, Anthropogenic feature, Archaeofaunal remains
Archaeological Research in Asia , 2021
For many decades, the appearance of semi-precious stone ornaments in Mainland Southeast Asian late prehistoric assemblages was closely associated with external actors: Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia in the case of nephrite, and South Asia in the case of carnelian. Carnelian beads in particular have long been held as a type marker of early contact across the Bay of Bengal, from the mid-late 1 st millennium BC. With this paper we demonstrate, from the central-northern Myanmar settlement and cemetery sites of Oakaie and Nyaung'gan, not only the presence of semi-precious stone beads, but also their production during the Late Neolithic to Early-Mid Bronze Age, late 2 nd millennium to early-mid 1 st millennium BC. We employed the chaîne opératoire technique to establish reliable links between the industrial and funerary evidence, as represented by 489 finished beads and a vast quantity of production debris. The sites in question are chronologically-overlapping and separated by only five kilometres, but such ornaments are found across the region and it is of fundamental importance to provide a solid foundation to expand semi-precious stone ornament studies and unravel the complex networks of social interactions that led to their exchange.