The Social and Environmental Context for Early Metalworking in Central Thailand

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "The Social and Environmental Context for Early Metalworking in Central Thailand" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In recent decades, archaeological research in central Thailand has played a prominent role in revealing the prehistory of Southeast Asia. Thai and foreign teams have collaborated in its study, including the Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project (TAP), a joint project between the Thai Fine Arts Department and the University of Pennsylvania Museum. While excavations concluded some time ago, research has continued on materials from three TAP sites ranging in date from Neolithic to Iron Age in the Khao Wong Prachan Valley, Lopburi Province: Non Pa Wai (NPW), Nil Kham Haeng (NKH), and Non Mak La (NML). The sites all contain evidence of copper production exploiting local copper reserves. This session presents research that further our understanding of the sites and the region. Presentations include results of a dating program of the complex stratigraphy of deep sondages at NPW, providing chronological context for other analyses; a possible copper commodity “currency;” human bioarchaeology and stable isotopy; and charcoal analysis, exploring fuel usage and forest management practices. An examination of Lopburi Plain settlement patterns provides a regional overview. Taken as a whole, these presentations contribute to understanding of the social and environmental context for copper smelting and utilization in central Thailand and mainland Southeast Asia.