DATING THE BRONZE AGE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA. WHY DOES IT MATTER?

We have dated human bone, freshwater shell, charcoal and rice grains from key sites in mainland Southeast Asia in order to establish the chronological scaffolding for later prehistory (ca 2500 BC-AD 500). In a recent report on the metal remains from the site of Ban Chiang, however, this chronology has been challenged. Here, we respond to these claims and show that they are unfounded and misleading. We maintain the integrity of the Bayesian-modelled radiocarbon results that identify the arrival of the first rice and millet farmers in mainland Southeast Asia towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, with the first evidence for the casting of bronze by about 1100 BC. Social change that followed the establishment of metallurgy was rapid and profound.

THE CHRONOLOGY AND STATUS OF NON NOK THA, NORTHEAST THAILAND

  Excavations at Non Nok Tha, in Northeast Thailand in 1965-1968 revealed for the first time in Southeast Asia, a stratigraphic transition from the Neolithic into the Bronze Age. Based on conventional charcoal radiocarbon determinations, early reports identified fourth millennium bronze casting. The proposed length of the prehistoric sequence, and the division of the Neolithic to Bronze age mortuary sequence into at least 11 phases, has stimulated a series of social interpretations all of which have in common, a social order based on ascriptive ranking into at least two groups which saw increased hierarchical divisions emerge with the initial Bronze Age. This paper presents the results of a new dating initiative, based on the ultrafiltration of human bones. The results indicate that the initial Neolithic occupation took place during the 14th century BC. The earliest Bronze Age has been placed in the 10th centuries BC. These dates are virtually identical with those obtained for the sites of Ban Chiang and Ban Non Wat. Compared with the elite early Bronze Age graves of Ban Non Wat, Non Nok Tha burials display little evidence for significant divisions in society

Writing in Britain and Ireland, c. 400 to c. 800

No abstract available

Sex difference and intra-operative tidal volume: Insights from the LAS VEGAS study

BACKGROUND: One key element of lung-protective ventilation is the use of a low tidal volume (VT). A sex difference in use of low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) has been described in critically ill ICU patients.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine whether a sex difference in use of LTVV also exists in operating room patients, and if present what factors drive this difference.DESIGN, PATIENTS AND SETTING: This is a posthoc analysis of LAS VEGAS, a 1-week worldwide observational study in adults requiring intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery in 146 hospitals in 29 countries.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Women and men were compared with respect to use of LTVV, defined as VT of 8 ml kg-1 or less predicted bodyweight (PBW). A VT was deemed 'default' if the set VT was a round number. A mediation analysis assessed which factors may explain the sex difference in use of LTVV during intra-operative ventilation.RESULTS: This analysis includes 9864 patients, of whom 5425 (55%) were women. A default VT was often set, both in women and men; mode VT was 500 ml. Median [IQR] VT was higher in women than in men (8.6 [7.7 to 9.6] vs. 7.6 [6.8 to 8.4] ml kg-1 PBW, P < 0.001). Compared with men, women were twice as likely not to receive LTVV [68.8 vs. 36.0%; relative risk ratio 2.1 (95% CI 1.9 to 2.1), P < 0.001]. In the mediation analysis, patients' height and actual body weight (ABW) explained 81 and 18% of the sex difference in use of LTVV, respectively; it was not explained by the use of a default VT.CONCLUSION: In this worldwide cohort of patients receiving intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery, women received a higher VT than men during intra-operative ventilation. The risk for a female not to receive LTVV during surgery was double that of males. Height and ABW were the two mediators of the sex difference in use of LTVV.TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01601223

KHOK PHANOM DI: NEW RADIOCARBON DATES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS: Khok Phanom Di

Khok Phanom Di is a Neolithic site located on the former estuary of the Bang Pakong River in Central Thailand. The initial dating of occupation was based on ten radiocarbon determinations from charcoal, that placed its foundation in about 2000 BCE and the end of the seven-stage mortuary sequence five centuries later. Here we report on a new series of dates derived from human bone, shell and charcoal embedded in stratified structural remains. These suggest an earlier occupation than has previously been published with implications for identifying a coastal expansion of early rice farmers along the coast of Vietnam and along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Siam

NEW RADIOCARBON DATES FOR IRON AGE NOEN U-LOKE: Noen-U-Loke

Noen U-Loke is a large Iron Age settlement located in the upper Mun River floodplain of Northeast Thailand. Excavations in 1996-7 revealed an occupation and mortuary sequence beginning in the Bronze Age and then spanning the entire Iron Age, from ca. 450 BC to AD 500. The third of four mortuary phases stood out for the great wealth of mortuary offerings and associated rituals that accompanied the dead. This was manifested in clay-lined coffins in which the corpse was covered in rice, wearing multiple bronze ornaments, carnelian, agate, glass, gold and silver jewellery and iron knives. One man was found with a socketed iron ploughshare. The published radiocarbon chronology for this site came from 24 charcoal determinations. In this paper we present a further 11 dates from stratified rice grains, and consider their implications in relation to other Iron Age settlements that lie in close proximity