Angkor Borei and Protohistoric Trade Networks: A View from the Glass and Stone Bead Assemblage

Abstract

Angkor Borei, Cambodia was an important urban center related to the early first millennium C.E. polity known as Funan. Excavations in the protohistoric period Vat Komnou Cemetery site uncovered over 1300 glass and stone beads, which are important material indicators of trade. In this article, we review data from earlier studies and add new previously unpublished data on glass and stone beads from this collection as well as previously unpublished glass compositional analyses from the nearby site of Oc Eo, Vietnam. Examinations of the glass beads highlight the presence of large quantities of high alumina mineral soda glass associated with Sri Lankan or South Indian bead production as well as smaller quantities of other glass types in circulation throughout Southeast Asia. Compositional and morphological studies of agate/carnelian beads show strong affinities with the Indian bead industry, while the garnet beads came from raw material sources in southern India. Overall, Angkor Borei's bead collection shows strong contacts with different regions of South Asia. Comparison with the bead assemblages of other contemporaneous sites demonstrate strong affinities with sites farther inland, such as Phum Snay and Prei Khmeng, Cambodia and Ban Non Wat, Thailand rather than other maritime coastal sites in Southeast Asia. We argue that the stone and glass beads at Angkor Borei are related to intensified interaction with South Asia and that elites at Angkor Borei used these exotic prestige goods to build alliances with sites farther inland forming an intraregional exchange network we call the Mekong Interaction Sphere.

The Elemental Analysis of Glass Beads

“…Several unusual beads are similar to beads found largely in peninsular Thailand, such as those made with m-Na-Ca-Al glass, gold-glass beads, and faience and imitation agate beads, signifying a trade relationship with these communities or that they were part of the same trade network(s). The presence of numerous high alumina mineral soda glass beads in the cemetery matrix and upper layers indicate that people at this site maintained regional connections as bead exchange networks shifted in the early first millennium CE and exchange within the Mekong Interaction Sphere expanded (Carter et al 2021). had previously suggested the shift from potash to high alumina mineral soda glass took place between 200 BCE-200 CE, based on a lack of potash beads in cemetery layers at the site of Angkor Borei, Cambodia.…”

“…Elsewhere on the Thai peninsula at the site of Phu Khao Thong, glass recipes show affinities with objects produced at the site of Arikamedu in South India . Studies of glass beads within mainland Southeast Asia have identified multiple intraregional exchange networks that linked different communities on the coasts and inland areas, and which shifted over time Carter et al 2021;Dussubieux and Bellina 2018). Through the identification of specific bead recipes, archaeologists are able to move beyond one-dimensional interpretations that recognize glass beads merely as objects that represent contact with India, and instead have identified diverse economic networks linking different parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as more closely examining how different types of beads circulated within internal exchange networks.…”

“…While early scholars assumed beads were largely imported as finished products, excavations in peninsular Thailand and Myanmar demonstrate the presence of stone and glass jewelry workshops using both local and South Asian beadmaking techniques to produce beads and ornaments for local markets (Bellina 2014(Bellina , 2018Dussubieux et al 2020). Analysis of glass and stone beads has demonstrated that there was a great diversity of bead types in circulation, which represented different manufacturing, trading, and interaction networks both within Southeast Asia and between South Asia and Southeast Asia (Bellina 2014;Carter et al 2021;Dussubieux and Bellina 2018;Dussubieux et al 2020;.…”

“…An earlier South China Sea exchange network connected sites primarily on the coasts or with coastal connections and especially circulated potash glass (Bellina 2014;Hung et al 2013). A later network circulated larger quantities of glass beads, largely made from high alumina mineral soda glass, connecting sites farther inland via the "Mekong Interaction Sphere" Carter et al 2021).…”

Ancient DNA from Protohistoric Period Cambodia indicates that South Asians admixed with local populations as early as 1st-3rd centuries CE

“…Chinese written sources documented that the Funan dynasty was established by an Indian Brahmin named Kaundinya and a local princess named Soma 31 . Archaeological evidence from glass and stone beads recovered from the Mekong Delta and peninsular Thailand 32 and archaeobotanical remains 33 suggests the possibility of multi-ethnic residence in areas of Protohistoric MSEA whose populations engaged in maritime trade (e.g., Bellina 2014 34 ). Collectively, these data suggest some level of Indian cultural influence in the Mekong Delta in the 1 st -3 rd c. CE.…”