2013a Establishing the Prehistoric Cultural Sequence for the Lopburi Region, Central Thailand (original) (raw)

Establishing the Prehistoric Cultural Sequence for the Lopburi Region, Central Thailand

2013

This study comprises the first archaeologically-defined chronological and cultural sequence for central Thailand. Based on collaborative research between the Thai-Italian Lopburi Regional Archaeological Project and the Thai-American Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project, the results of excavations at seven pre-and protohistoric sites that witnessed three millennia of local cultural development, from the early second millennium BC onward, are synthesized herein. This study fills a significant gap in Thailand's prehistory, also identifying important cultural interactions ranging into southern China and Vietnam that led to the formation during the second millennium BC of a 'Southeast Asian Interaction Sphere'. This interaction sphere, at the close of the second millennium BC, facilitated the transmission of the knowledge of copper-base metallurgy from southern China into Thailand, where it reached the communities of the Lopburi Region who took advantage of their ore-rich environment. At the end of the first millennium BC, strong South Asian contacts emerge in Southeast Asia. Among this study's salient contributions is the characterization of these critical prehistoric antecedents, which culminated in a process of localization of exogenous elements, usually termed 'Indianization'. The impact of this dynamic process was initially felt in central Thailand in the late first millennium BC, leading over time to the rise there, by the mid first millennium AD, of one of Southeast Asia's first 'state-like' entities.

2013 - Establishing the Prehistoric Cultural Sequence for the Lopburi Region, Central Thailand

Journal of World Prehistory, 2013

2014 The Mun Valley and Central Thailand in prehistory: integrating two cultural sequences

Open Archaeology, 2014

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 interrelationships 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.

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

Open Archaeology, 2014

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.

2007a On the Origins of Metallurgy in Prehistoric Southeast Asia: the View from Thailand

Research over the last 30 years has markedly improved our understanding of metallurgical developments in prehistoric Thailand. The chronology of its earliest appearance, however, remains under debate. Current evidence suggests that tin-bronze metallurgy appeared rather abruptly as a full-blown technology by the mid-2nd millennium BC. Questions also continue to arise as to the sources of the technology. Current arguments no longer favour an indigenous origin; researchers are increasingly pointing north into what is today modern China, linking metallurgical developments to the regions of the Yangtze valley and Lingnan and their ties to sophisticated bronze-making traditions which began during the Erlitou (c. 1900-1500 BC) and the Erligang (1600-1300 BC) cultures in the Central Plain of the Huanghe. In turn, links between this early 2nd-millennium BC metallurgical tradition and the easternmost extensions of Eurasian Steppe cultures to the north and west of China have been explored recently by a number of scholars. This paper assesses broadly the evidence for 'looking north' into China and eventually to its Steppe borderlands as possible sources of traditions, which, over time, may be linked to the coming of tin-bronze in Thailand/Southeast Asia.

On the origins of metallurgy in prehistoric Southeast Asia: The View from Thailand

ABSTRACT Research over the last 30 years has markedly improved our understanding of metallurgical developments in prehistoric Thailand. The chronology of its earliest appearance, however, remains under debate. Current evidence suggests that tin-bronze metallurgy appeared rather abruptly as a full-blown technology by the mid-2nd millennium BC. Questions also continue to arise as to the sources of the technology. Current arguments no longer favour an indigenous origin; research- ers are increasingly pointing north into what is today modern China, linking metallurgical developments to the regions of the Yangtze valley and Lingnan and their ties to sophisticated bronze-making traditions which began during the Erlitou (c. 1900–1500 BC) and the Erligang (c. 1600–1300 BC) cultures in the Central Plain of the Huanghe. In turn, links between this early 2nd-millennium BC metallurgical tradition and the easternmost extensions of Eurasian Steppe cultures to the north and west of China have been explored recently by a number of scholars. This paper assesses broadly the evidence for ‘looking north’ into China and eventually to its Steppe borderlands as possible sources of traditions, which, over time, may be linked to the coming of tin-bronze in Thailand/Southeast Asia.

The Origins of Metallurgy in Prehistoric Southeast Asia: The View from Thailand

Research over the last 30 years has markedly improved our understanding of metallurgical developments in prehistoric Thailand. The chronology of its earliest appearance, however, remains under debate. Current evidence suggests that tin-bronze metallurgy appeared rather abruptly as a full-blown technology by the mid-2nd millennium BC. Questions also continue to arise as to the sources of the technology. Current arguments no longer favour an indigenous origin; researchers are increasingly pointing north into what is today modern China, linking metallurgical developments to the regions of the Yangtze valley and Lingnan and their ties to sophisticated bronze-making traditions which began during the Erlitou (c. 1900-1500 BC) and the Erligang (c. 1600-1300 BC) cultures in the Central Plain of the Huanghe. In turn, links between this early 2nd-millennium BC metallurgical tradition and the easternmost extensions of Eurasian Steppe cultures to the north and west of China have been explored recently by a number of scholars. This paper assesses broadly the evidence for 'looking north' into China and eventually to its Steppe borderlands as possible sources of traditions, which, over time, may be linked to the coming of tin-bronze in Thailand/Southeast Asia.

A prehistoric copper-production centre in central Thailand: its dating and wider implications

Antiquity, 2020

The Khao Wong Prachan Valley of central Thailand is one of four known prehistoric loci of copper mining, smelting and casting in Southeast Asia. Many radiocar-bon determinations from bronze-consumption sites in northeast Thailand date the earliest copper-base metallurgy there in the late second millennium BC. By applying kernel density estimation analysis to approximately 100 new AMS radiocarbon dates, the authors conclude that the valley's first Neolithic millet farmers had settled there by c. 2000 BC, and initial copper mining and rudimentary smelting began in the late second millennium BC. This overlaps with the established dates for Southeast Asian metal-consumption sites, and provides an important new insight into the development of metallurgy in central Thai-land and beyond.

2020 - A prehistoric copper-production centre in central Thailand: its dating and wider implications

Antiquity, 2020

The Khao Wong Prachan Valley of central Thailand is one of four known prehistoric loci of co-occurring copper mining, smelting and casting in Southeast Asia. Many radiocarbon determinations from bronze consumption sites in Northeast Thailand date the earliest copper-base metallurgy there in the late 2 nd millennium BC. By applying Kernel Density Estimation to ca. 100 new AMS radiocarbon dates, we conclude that the first millet farmers settled the valley by 2000 BC, and initial copper mining and rudimentary smelting began in the late second millennium BC. This dovetails with the established dates for Southeast Asian metal consumption sites.

2013a Establishing the Prehistoric Cultural Sequence for the Lopburi Region, Central Thailand (original) (raw)

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