The Bagan Iron Project: Preliminary results of the first intensive study of iron production in the Bagan region, Myanmar (11th to 20th c. CE)

International audienceThe Kingdom of Bagan, with its capital on the Irrawaddy River in central Myanmar, was a primary regional competitor to Angkor whose success was similarly based on rice, trade and conquest. A key question is whether other practices, such as intensified iron production, similarly enabled Bagan's political domination of the region. The Bagan Iron Project represents the first exploration of iron smelting practices conducted around the capital , focussing on three production sites at the village of Zi-O. This paper presents the preliminary results of excavation, mapping and pXRF analyses from the 2019 field season. Comparison of slag and slag mound morphology, furnace visibility and spatial organization between each site suggests the presence of different technical traditions or modifications of one tradition over time. Overall, the scale of Bagan's iron production shows some important differences with their counterparts in Cambodia

The Bagan Iron Project: Preliminary results of the first intensive study of iron production in the Bagan region, Myanmar (11th to 20th c. CE)

International audienceThe Kingdom of Bagan, with its capital on the Irrawaddy River in central Myanmar, was a primary regionalcompetitor to Angkor whose success was similarly based on rice, trade and conquest. A key question is whetherother practices, such as intensified iron production, similarly enabled Bagan's political domination of the region.The Bagan Iron Project represents the first exploration of iron smelting practices conducted around the capital ,focussing on three production sites at the village of Zi-O. This paper presents the preliminary results ofexcavation, mapping and pXRF analyses from the 2019 field season. Comparison of slag and slag moundmorphology, furnace visibility and spatial organization between each site suggests the presence of differenttechnical traditions or modifications of one tradition over time. Overall, the scale of Bagan's iron productionshows some important differences with their counterparts in Cambodia

Febrile illness in Asia: gaps in epidemiology, diagnosis and management for informing health policy

There is increasing evidence on the aetiology and management of fevers in Asia, the importance of which has risen with declines in malaria incidence.To conduct a narrative review of the epidemiology and management of fevers in South and South-East Asia and to highlight gaps in our knowledge that impair evidence-based health policy decisions.A narrative review of papers published since 2012 of developments in fever epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment in South and South-East Asia. The papers that the authors felt were pivotal, from their personal perspectives, are discussed.We identified 100 studies. Among thirty studies (30%) including both children and adults that investigated three or more pathogens, dengue was reported the most frequently, by 15 (50%), followed by leptospirosis by 8 (27%), scrub typhus by 7 (23%) and Salmonella Typhi by 6 (20%). Among four studies investigating three or more pathogens in children, dengue and Staphylococcus aureus were the most frequent, followed by non-typhoidal Salmonella spp., Streptococcus pneumoniae, Salmomella Typhi, and scrub typhus. Increased awareness that rickettsial pathogens are common but will not respond to cephalosporins and that alternatives, such as tetracyclines, are required is needed.Many key gaps remain and consensus guidelines for study design are needed to aid comparative understanding of the epidemiology of fevers. More investment in developing accurate and affordable diagnostic tests for rural Asia and independent evaluation of those on the market are needed. Treatment algorithms, including simple biomarker assays, appropriate for empirical therapy of fevers in different areas of rural Asia should be a major aim of fever research. Enhanced antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance and openly accessible databases of geography-specific AMR data would inform empirical and specific therapy policy. More investment in innovative strategies facilitating infectious disease surveillance in remote rural communities would be an important component of poverty reduction and improving public health

Late prehistoric and early historic chronology of Myanmar: a four-millennia sequence from Halin

Myanmar is located within an important geographic corridor of prehistoric demographic and technological exchange, yet relatively few archaeological sites have been securely dated. Here, the authors present a new radiocarbon chronology for Halin, a UNESCO-listed complex in the north-central Sagaing Division of Myanmar, which contributes to the generation of nuanced regional chronologies and to improving the temporal resolution of Southeast Asia more generally. Discussion of 94 radiocarbon determinates, together with site stratigraphy and pottery traditions, provides a chronological sequence from the early third millennium BC to the early second millennium AD. Corroboration of the beginning of this sequence would place Halin as the oldest currently dated Neolithic site in Mainland Southeast Asia and would provide support for the two-layer model of Neolithic migration