Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983 - 54

This cream-colored cannateci funerary pot , dating to about 1000-400B.C., was
pieced together from the sheet of sherds spread over a Middle Period burial .
Height y49 centimeters.
Age (ca. 3600 b.c. -a.D. 200) sites of
Thailand, as well as many spectacular
pieceson loan from the National Museum
of Thailand. The show highlights the
archaeological and cultural contexts of
the ancient artifacts through the use of
photographs and scale and life-sized
fiberglass models which portray the
funerary role of many of the items.
Interpretation is further aided by ethnographic items which suggest features of
the prehistoric technology that have not
survived in the archaeological record.
Scientific methods used to decipher
artifacts, such as photomicrographs of
bronze artifacts, illustrate the research
required to investigate prehistoric lifeways. While aesthetically pleasing in
themselves, the Ban Chiang artifacts are
displayed not so much as art objects
divorced from their cultural significance,
but as clues to understanding a unique
and vital ancient society.
The excavations at Ban Chiang revealed not merely a prehistoric culture,
but a cultural tradition which lasted for
at least 4,000 years in northeastern
Thailand. The site was settled sometime
after 4000 B.c. by people who still
collectedmany of their subsistence needs
54

Archaeology

from the wild, yet who raised domestic
stock and probably practiced some
simple form of rice cultivation. Despite
the simplicity of their economic strategies, the material culture of the ancient
villagers shows a remarkably advanced
technology and a sophisticated aesthetic
sense from the very beginning.
The Ban Chiang funerary remains
reveal a lively artistic tradition most
clearly reflected in the ceramics. On the
basis of changes in ceramic styles, as
wellas other artifacts, funerary rites and
technological developments, the cultural
chronology of Ban Chiang was subdivided into the Early Period (3600-1000
b.c. ), Middle Period (1000-300b.c. ) and
Late Period (300 b.c. -a.d. 200).
Funerary
styles
During the Early Period three burial
styles were practiced. Adults and juveniles most commonly were buried in a
stretched out or supine position with
one or more pots placed at the feet or
head. Occasionally other artifacts such
as jewelry or implements were placed
with the body. Certain adult male burials
dating to about 1500 B.c. received distinctive treatment suggestive of social

differentiation. One middle-aged male,
nicknamed Vulcan by the fieldworkers,
has been resurrected in the exhibit in a
life-sized fiberglass model. He wore
bronze bracelets, had a bronze socketed
adze at his shoulder, a pile of baked clay
pellets by his head, and a painted and
incised pot at his feet. The pellets may
have been projectiles for use with a pellet
bow, a bow with a split string and a tiny
woven platform in which the pellet
rested. These bows werein use as recently
as 50 years ago in the Ban Chiang
vicinity, and are still made by some
elderly men.
Another burial of a younger male,
nicknamed Nimrod, possessed a unique
assemblage of bone artifacts - two
drilled tiger s teeth found at his neck as
though they were pendants, a drilled pin
interpreted as a hair pin since it was
found next to his skull, a carved and
drilled antler of unknown use alongside
his left arm, and a bone spearpoint. The
grave goods of both Vulcan and Nimrod
do not seem to suggest special wealth or
class for these individuals, but rather a
distinctive social role. Vulcan's assemblage seems primarily utilitarian, and
Nimrod's is perhaps symbolic.
During the Early Period, adults were
occasionally found buried in a flexed or
crouched position. One such grave contained the oldest socketed spearpoint
excavated at the site, along with a simple
beaker-type pot. The tip of this spearpoint
had been bent prior to interment, and
seems to be a very early example of
mutilating or "killing" objects before
burial. This practice continued during
the Middle Period at Ban Chiang, and is
also found at later sites in Southeast
Asia.
The third type of Early Period burial
was associated with infants, a few weeks
old at most. One of these jar burials is
depicted in a life-sized model in the
exhibition. The seemingly high infant
mortality of the Early Period may reflect
a somewhat precarious subsistence base,
or perhaps a practice of infanticide to
balance the population. Whatever the
reason, both the practice of burying
infants in large pots and the high proportion of infant burials are peculiar to
the Early Period.
Vitality in ceramics
Even the oldest pottery unearthed at
Ban Chiang displays elegant proportions
and stylistic treatments found throughout
the tradition. Freehand curvilinear motifs
which characterize the Ban Chiang designs were incised on some of the early
pots. Other treatments include burnishing, rocker stamping, painting, appliqué,
and the ubiquitous cordmarking. The
many shapes include short pedestalled
pots, straight-sided beaker types, and
round-bottomed pots, occasionally with
painted and incised designs on the shoulder. The attention to decorative detail so
Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983
