A Bioarchaeological Study of Trauma at Late Iron Age to Protohistoric Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand

Abstract

The Late Iron Age to early historic period site of Non Ban Jak (ca. fourth to eighth centuries A.D.), in the Upper Mun River Valley, northeast Thailand, provides one of the largest and best preserved skeletal samples from an important period of change in social and technological complexity in prehistoric Southeast Asia. This study assessed the patterning of individual-level trauma prevalence and long bone fracture rates in this community to determine the level of risk of injury and the possible relationship with cultural change. One quarter (25.5%) of adults experienced antemortem or perimortem trauma. This level of trauma is high when compared to other Iron Age sites in the Southeast Asian region. Injury patterning suggests the majority of antemortem trauma is the result of accidental injury through occupational hazards and lifestyle activities. However, cranial injuries such as a depressed fracture, facial fractures, and perimortem sharp force trauma, as well as a possible parry injury and multiple trauma observed in some individuals, are indicative that at least a portion of the population had been engaged in interpersonal violence. This study emphasizes local variation. Non Ban Jak is one of only a few excavated sites that contributes to an understanding of the transition from the late Iron Age to the early protohistoric period in Thailand as well as the wider region in Southeast Asia.

Domestication and large animal interactions: Skeletal trauma in northern Vietnam during the hunter-gatherer Da But period

“…The Thai sites consist of the Neolithic coastal site of Khok Phanom Di (n = 68) (3950–3450 BP), Southeast Thailand, the inland Bronze Age site of Ban Lum Khao (n = 59) (3350–2450 BP), Northeast Thailand [4], and the inland site of Non Ban Jak (n = 55) (1650–1200 BP), Northeast Thailand [7]. The site of Khok Phanom Di is represented by foodstuffs of a marine and plant base, including rice, but there is no evidence for animal domestication [52, 53].…”

“…The analysis of skeletal trauma in the past can highlight the physical risks faced by individuals within a community navigating the transition from hunting and gathering to using and consuming domesticated products, including animals. Few studies have investigated the physical risks of wild animal interactions in the past and while research has been conducted on skeletal trauma in Southeast Asia [4–7], the current research specifically explores such trauma in a pre-farming group from the region. This study investigates the frequency, pattern, and types, of post cranial skeletal trauma in a group of individuals who lived during the Da But period in northern Vietnam 6800–5500 BP.…”

Health Indicators in Skeletons from Iron Age Central Thailand: A Preliminary Report from the Site of Phromthin Tai, Lopburi Province | ตัวบ่งชี้สุขภาพอนามัยบนกระดูกมนุษย์สมัยเหล็กในภาคกลางของประเทศไทย: รายงานเบื้องต้นจากแหล่งโบราณคดีพรหมทินใต้ จังหวัดลพบุรี

“…Northeastern Thailand has more published bioarchaeological research about Iron Age sites than Central Thailand (e.g. Dhavale et al 2017, Higham 2007, Pedersen et al 2019, Pietrusewsky and Douglas 2002, Wangthongchaicharoen 2013) and from sites that were likely similarly dependent on rice agriculture as was Phromthin Tai (d'Alpoim Guedes et al 2019, Higham 2007:609, Liu 2018, Pietrusewsky and Douglas 2002. However, the degree of cultural similarity between the neighboring areas of Northeastern and Central Thailand during the Iron Age is still unclear.…”