Historical phenomena often have prehistoric precedents, with this paper we investigate the
potential for archaeometallurgical analyses and networked data processing to elucidate the
progenitors of the Southwest Silk Road in Mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. We
present original microstructural, elemental and lead isotope data for 40 archaeological copperbase metal samples, mostly from the UNESCO-listed site of Halin, and lead isotope data for 25
geological copper-mineral samples, also from Myanmar. We combined these data with existing
datasets (N=98 total) and compared them to the 1000+ sample late prehistoric
archaeometallurgical database available from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan.
Lead isotope data, contextualised for alloy, find location and date, were interpreted manually for
intra-site, inter-site and inter-regional consistency, which hint at significant multi-scalar
connectivity from the late 2nd millennium BC. To test this interpretation statistically, the
archaeological lead isotope data were then processed using regionally-adapted productionderived consistency parameters. Complex networks analysis using the Leiden community
detection algorithm established groups of artefacts sharing lead isotopic consistency. Introducing
the geographic component allowed for the identification of communities of sites with consistent
assemblages. The four major communities were consistent with the manually interpreted
exchange networks and suggest southern sections of the Southwest Silk Road were active in the
late 2nd millennium BC
