Ban Chiang

Before the 1960s, little was known about prehistoric Thailand. In 1966 a couple of clay pots and bronze objects were found by sheer coincidence in the town of Ban Chiang, 85 miles northeast of Non Nok Tha. The excited conclusion that they dated from 3000 BC, immediately established Thailand as the herald of the Bronze Age, 700 years before Mesopotamia, that until then was considered the cradle of civilisation.

More recent finds and research has cooled down a bit on the spectacular presumptions, which does not, however, take away the blatant fact that the prehistoric inhabitants of Ban Chiang that made these objects were highly developed, socially, technologically as well as artistically. Even though in later times the whole Southeast Asian continent came under the overwhelming influence of the two neigbouring super-states, India and China, the prehistory of the continent was amazingly rich, varied, and involved in a fantastic, complex web of trade routes and mutual influences.

In most publications the Ban Chiang objects are distinguished in three large periods:

The early period (2300 - 1000 BC)

Among the objects found in graves are clay pots, jewels, utensils and weapons - e.g. bronze spearheads and projectiles in the form of hard baked clay balls. Depending on the status of the person, different types and numbers of objects were buried with the body. Originally the pots were engraved, and later also painted.

The middle period (1000 - 300 BC)

In this period the settlement became wealthier, and people started to cultivate the land, using water buffaloes. The pots that served as burial gifts were first broken into small pieces, and the shards were arranged under and on the body, a custom of an unknown origin. The jugs that have been reconstructed are more complex in design than their predecessors. They are white or brick-coloured and were painted and engraved with motifs. Also bronze bangles were elaborated, and spearheads were beginning to be made of iron.

The late period (300 BC - 200 AD)

This period forms the climax of Ban Chiang culture. Refined bronze necklaces indicate that bronze casting was highly developed and that the economy propered. There was time and money to make purely decorative objects. At this point only bronze jewellery was made and all utsensils were iron.

Pots were no longer engraved in this period, but lavishly painted with rust-coloured geometric patterns on a beige background. These decorations show a fabulous imagination: the artists would act in a very individualist way and clearly felt no need to conform to a communal style - making the archeologists job of classifying indeed a tough one.

After this climax the Ban Chiang people disappeared into thin air. Nobody knows whether or why they got extinct or what became of them. Today farmers plough the land, unaware of the fantastic creativity that once prospered in their tiny village.

Besides Ban Chiang there are other places where similar archeological finds were made. For instance in the early sixties, in the valley of the river Kwai, near the village of Ban Kao, a series of clay and terracotta pots dating from around 2000 BC have been found.

In 1976, in the village of Don Tha Phet, in the province Kanchanaburi, archeologists have found a number of bronze pots, etched agate beads and irons utensils that resemble the Ban Chiang finds. The objects probably date from around 1000 BC. The beads show Indian influences. These artists may have descended from Ban Chiang people that migrated to the west and mingled with other peoples.