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Economic change after the agricultural revolution in Southeast Asia?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Charlotte L. King ,
R. Alexander Bentley ,
Charles Higham ,
Nancy Tayles ,
Una Strand Viðarsdóttir ,
Robert Layton ,
Colin G. Macpherson  and
Geoff Nowell
Charlotte L. King
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
R. Alexander Bentley
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, 43 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UU, UK
Charles Higham
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Otago, Castle Street, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
Nancy Tayles
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, PO Box 913, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
Una Strand Viðarsdóttir
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Robert Layton
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
Colin G. Macpherson
Affiliation:
Stable Isotope Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Elvet Hill, Durham DH1 3TH, UK
Geoff Nowell
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Science Labs, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
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Abstract

Three prehistoric sites in the Upper Mun River Valley of north-eastern Thailand have provided a detailed chronological succession comprising 12 occupation phases. These represent occupation spanning 2300 years, from initial settlement in the Neolithic (seventeenth century BC) through to the Iron Age, ending in the seventh century AD with the foundation of early states. The precise chronology in place in the Upper Mun River Valley makes it possible to examine changes in social organisation, technology, agriculture and demography against a background of climatic change. In this area the evidence for subsistence has been traditionally drawn from the biological remains recovered from occupation and mortuary contexts. This paper presents the results of carbon isotope analysis to identify and explain changes in subsistence over time and between sites, before comparing the results with two sites of the Sakon Nakhon Basin, located 230km to the north-east, to explore the possibility of regional differences.

Keywords

Southeast AsiaThailandUpper Mun River ValleySakon Nakhon BasinNeolithicisotope analysisdietary change
Type
Research articles
Information
Antiquity , Volume 88 , Issue 339 , March 2014 , pp. 112 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2014

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