The prehistory of Western Udon Thani and Loei Provinces, Northeast Thailand

The excavations at Spirit Cave, Non Nok Tha, Ban Chiang and other sites in Northeast Thailand have raised a number of issues that have placed Thailand on the stage of world prehistory. This thesis reports on the survey and excavations carried out in the mountainous western Udon Thani and Loei area of Northeast Thailand. The purpose of the project was to construct a cultural sequence for the region and to cast further light on the problematic issues of early agriculture and the beginnings of metallurgy. The survey results were consistent with those of Bayard and Penny who in the 1970s had examined neighbouring or overlapping areas. All the evidence suggests that western Udon Thani and Loei provinces were sparsely settled until Iron Age and historic times. Sites of an earlier age, such as ones belonging to the Hoabinhian and Bronze Age, have proved to be elusive. There is also evidence to suggest that wet rice farming was not a significant form of agriculture until relatively recent times. Notably, rice chaff temper was virtually » absent in the prehistoric pottery from the survey area, in contrast to the pottery found in the well-watered lowland areas of the Northeast region. A total of sixty-one sites was located during the survey including a burial cave and a jar burial, an axe/adze quarry, a rock art site, and mound sites. Three of these sites were excavated. An excavation carried out at the site of Non Sila indicated that it was a quarry and workshop for the production of unground axe/adze preforms. As far as can be determined the site was in use during Metal Age times, and this indicates the persistence of volcanic stone as a cheap alternative raw material to bronze and iron for tool making. The reduction sequence for the preforms appears to be straightforward, involving the hard hammer shaping of easily procured andesitic tuff nuclei. A representative mound site in Loei called Non Phrik was excavated. This site was dated to the late Metal Age and possibly the Early Historic Periods. While the artefact assemblage excavated at Non Phrik was broad, including potsherds, polished stone tools, spindle whorls" (or net weights), grinding stones and iron implements, there was no evidence of the relative wealth noted at other mound sites in better agricultural areas of the Northeast, such as Non Nok Tha and Ban Chiang. The third excavation was carried out in Pha Phim Cave. Because the burial in the cave had been looted the sediments were partially disturbed and difficulties were encountered in obtaining reliable C14 determinations. The burial is probably Pre_Buddhist and may well belong to the Iron Age. At least three different types of pots were found, two of which have elaborate and distinctive incised designs similar to those reported by Bayard from nearby Pha Ya Cave. As far as is known this decoration is unique to the local area