Ancient Inscriptions and Climate Change: A Study of Water Management at the Ancient Capital of Bagan, Myanmar

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Bagan was an authoritative capital as well as a cosmological and ritual epicenter of Theravada Buddhism for the Classical Burmese Empire during the eleventh to fourteenth centuries CE. Integral in the Buddhist belief system is the notion of merit; achieved through good deeds or donations to the Buddhist Church. This often took the form of developing or renovating water management infrastructure throughout Bagan’s peri-urban zone. These were important endeavors given the semiarid environment and limited water resources which characterize this region. This ancient landscape was further shaped by two climatic events during the occupation of Bagan: the Medieval Climate Anomaly (900–1300 CE) and Little Ice Age (1300–1570 CE). In this pursuit for merit, donations were inscribed on stone monuments endowing the donor with social recognition and spiritual benefits. Recorded within these stone inscriptions are references to types of water management features, construction techniques, locations, dates, donors, and recipients. The quantitative analysis of these inscriptions provides insight into the entangled relationships that developed between kingly authorities, religious institutions, and the broader support population in their journey for a successful water management strategy. This analysis will question the shifting management strategy in response to changing water availability due to climatic fluctuations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33041