Ban Chiang
Encyclopedia
Ban Chiang is an archeological site located in Nong Han district
, Udon Thani Province
, Thailand
. It has been on the UNESCO
world heritage list since 1992.
Discovered in 1966, the site attracted enormous publicity due to its attractive red painted pottery
. Villagers had uncovered some of the pottery in prior years without insight into its age or historical importance. In August 1966 Steve Young, an anthropology and government student at Harvard College, was living in the village conducting interviews for his senior honors thesis. Young, a speaker of Thai, was familiar with the work of William Solheim and his theory of possible ancient origins of civilization in Southeast Asia. One day while walking down a path in Ban Chiang with his assistant, an art teacher in the village school, Young tripped over a root of a Kapok
tree and fell on his face in the dirt path. Under him were the exposed tops of pottery jars of small and medium sizes. Young recognized that the firing techniques used to make the pots were very rudimentary but that the designs applied to the surface of the vessels were unique and wonderful. He took samples of pots to Princess Phanthip Chumbote who had the private museum of Suan Pakkad
in Bangkok and to Chin Yu Di of the Thai Government's Fine Arts Department
Later, Elisabeth Lyons, an art historian on the staff of the Ford Foundation
, sent sherd
s from Ban Chiang to the University of Pennsylvania
for dating.
During the first formal scientific excavation in 1967, several skeletons, together with bronze
grave gifts, were unearthed. Rice
fragments have also been found, leading to the belief that the Bronze Age
settlers were probably farmers. The site's oldest graves do not include bronze artifacts and are therefore from a Neolithic
culture; the most recent graves date to the Iron Age
.
The first datings of the artifacts using the thermoluminescence technique
resulted in a range from 4420 BCE
to 3400 BC, which would have made the site the earliest Bronze Age culture in the world. However, with the 1974/75 excavation, sufficient material became available for radiocarbon dating
, which resulted in more recent dates—the earliest grave was about 2100 BC, the latest about 200 AD. Bronze making began circa 2000 BC, as evidenced by crucibles and bronze fragments. Bronze objects include bracelets, rings, anklets, wires and rods, spearheads, axes and adzes, hooks, blades, and little bells.
The site again made headlines in January 2008 when thousands of artifacts from the Ban Chiang cultural tradition and other prehistoric traditions of Thailand were found to illegally be in several California museums and other locations. The plot involved smuggling the items to the country and then donating them to the museums in order to claim large tax write offs. There were said to be more items in the museums than at the site itself. This was brought to light during high profile raids conducted by the police after a National Park Service agent had posed under cover as a private collector. If the US government wins its case, which is likely to take several years of litigation, the artifacts are to be returned to Thailand.
NOTE:
The excavation at Ban Chiang in 1974/75 was followed by an article by Chester Gorman and Pisit Charoenwongsa, claiming evidence for the earliest dates in the world for bronze casting and iron working. This led to an at times acrimonious debate, between those who accepted these dates, and those who did not. Subsequent excavations, including that at Ban Non Wat
, have now shown that the proposed early dates for Ban Chiang are unlikely. However, the early claims are still repeated in the secondary literature.
Gorman, C.F. and Charoenwongsa, P. 1976. Ban Chiang: A mosaic of impressions from the first two years. Expedition 8(4):14–26.
After Dr. Gorman's untimely death in 1981, Dr. Joyce White continued research and publications as Director of the Ban Chiang Project at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Dr. White's research endeavors have included analysis and publication of Penn’s excavations at Ban Chiang in Thailand in the mid 1970s; ecological field research at Ban Chiang in 1978-1981 including investigations of how local people identified and used plants; lake coring and ecological mapping for palaeoenvironmental research in several parts of Thailand during the 1990s; and since 2001, survey and excavation in northern Laos, especially in Luang Prabang Province.
Amphoe Nong Han
Nong Han is a district of Udon Thani Province, northeastern Thailand.-Geography:Neighboring districts are Chai Wan, Ku Kaeo, Prachaksinlapakhom, Mueang Udon Thani, Phibun Rak and Thung Fon of Udon Thani Province, and Sawang Daen Din of Sakon Nakhon Province.-History:The archaeological site of...
, Udon Thani Province
Udon Thani Province
Udon Thani is one of the north-eastern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Nong Khai, Sakon Nakhon, Kalasin, Khon Kaen, Nong Bua Lamphu and Loei.- Geography :...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. It has been on the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
world heritage list since 1992.
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
. Villagers had uncovered some of the pottery in prior years without insight into its age or historical importance. In August 1966 Steve Young, an anthropology and government student at Harvard College, was living in the village conducting interviews for his senior honors thesis. Young, a speaker of Thai, was familiar with the work of William Solheim and his theory of possible ancient origins of civilization in Southeast Asia. One day while walking down a path in Ban Chiang with his assistant, an art teacher in the village school, Young tripped over a root of a Kapok
Kapok
Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae , native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa...
tree and fell on his face in the dirt path. Under him were the exposed tops of pottery jars of small and medium sizes. Young recognized that the firing techniques used to make the pots were very rudimentary but that the designs applied to the surface of the vessels were unique and wonderful. He took samples of pots to Princess Phanthip Chumbote who had the private museum of Suan Pakkad
Suan Pakkad
Suan Pakkad Palace or Suan Pakkard Palace , is a museum in Bangkok, Thailand. It is located on Sri Ayutthaya Road south of the Victory Monument. The museum has Thai antiques on display, including Ban Chiang pottery over 4,000 years old. Originally the home of Prince Chumbhotpong Paripatra and his...
in Bangkok and to Chin Yu Di of the Thai Government's Fine Arts Department
Later, Elisabeth Lyons, an art historian on the staff of the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, sent sherd
Sherd
In archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels as well....
s from Ban Chiang to the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
for dating.
During the first formal scientific excavation in 1967, several skeletons, together with bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
grave gifts, were unearthed. Rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
fragments have also been found, leading to the belief that the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
settlers were probably farmers. The site's oldest graves do not include bronze artifacts and are therefore from a Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
culture; the most recent graves date to the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
.
The first datings of the artifacts using the thermoluminescence technique
Thermoluminescence dating
Thermoluminescence dating is the determination, by means of measuring the accumulated radiation dose, of the time elapsed since material containing crystalline minerals was either heated or exposed to sunlight...
resulted in a range from 4420 BCE
5th millennium BC
The 5th millennium BC saw the spread of agriculture from the Near East throughout southern and central Europe.Urban cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia flourished, developing the wheel. Copper ornaments became more common, marking the Chalcolithic. Animal husbandry spread throughout Eurasia,...
to 3400 BC, which would have made the site the earliest Bronze Age culture in the world. However, with the 1974/75 excavation, sufficient material became available for radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
, which resulted in more recent dates—the earliest grave was about 2100 BC, the latest about 200 AD. Bronze making began circa 2000 BC, as evidenced by crucibles and bronze fragments. Bronze objects include bracelets, rings, anklets, wires and rods, spearheads, axes and adzes, hooks, blades, and little bells.
The site again made headlines in January 2008 when thousands of artifacts from the Ban Chiang cultural tradition and other prehistoric traditions of Thailand were found to illegally be in several California museums and other locations. The plot involved smuggling the items to the country and then donating them to the museums in order to claim large tax write offs. There were said to be more items in the museums than at the site itself. This was brought to light during high profile raids conducted by the police after a National Park Service agent had posed under cover as a private collector. If the US government wins its case, which is likely to take several years of litigation, the artifacts are to be returned to Thailand.
Sources
- Higham, CharlesCharles Higham (archaeologist)Charles Higham is a British archaeologist most noted for his work in Southeast Asia. Among his noted contributions to archaeology are his work about the Angkor civilization in Cambodia, and his current work at Ban Non Wat...
, Prehistoric Thailand, ISBN 974-8225-30-5, pp 84–88 - Southeast Asia: A Past Regained, Time Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia 1995, pages 25–32
- The Ban Chiang project at the University of Pennsylvania
- Ban Chiang gallery at the University of Hawai'i
- UNESCO world heritage listing
- http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SMUGGLED_ART?SITE=AZPHG&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-01-25-06-36-15 from the AP Wire
NOTE:
The excavation at Ban Chiang in 1974/75 was followed by an article by Chester Gorman and Pisit Charoenwongsa, claiming evidence for the earliest dates in the world for bronze casting and iron working. This led to an at times acrimonious debate, between those who accepted these dates, and those who did not. Subsequent excavations, including that at Ban Non Wat
Ban Non Wat
Ban Non Wat is a village in central Thailand, in the Non Sung district, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, located near the small city of Phimai. It has been the subject of recent excavation of what are thought to be late neolithic and early bronze age burials...
, have now shown that the proposed early dates for Ban Chiang are unlikely. However, the early claims are still repeated in the secondary literature.
Gorman, C.F. and Charoenwongsa, P. 1976. Ban Chiang: A mosaic of impressions from the first two years. Expedition 8(4):14–26.
After Dr. Gorman's untimely death in 1981, Dr. Joyce White continued research and publications as Director of the Ban Chiang Project at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Dr. White's research endeavors have included analysis and publication of Penn’s excavations at Ban Chiang in Thailand in the mid 1970s; ecological field research at Ban Chiang in 1978-1981 including investigations of how local people identified and used plants; lake coring and ecological mapping for palaeoenvironmental research in several parts of Thailand during the 1990s; and since 2001, survey and excavation in northern Laos, especially in Luang Prabang Province.
External links
- This Ancient Land of Dinosaurs, Siamoid, Siamese, and Thais Part III
- "The Discovery of Ban Chiang" http://penn.museum/banchiang/about/discovery-of-ban-chiang/